The Metamorphagus
by SilverWing321
Summary: When the demigods take trip to London, they think it's a normal vacation-until they meet a lost, crying little boy named Teddy Lupin. When they see Teddy's powers, they mistake him for a child of Aphrodite, and take him to camp. Slowly, the magical world begins to unfold, and soon, the demigods and wizards must unite to heal a war-torn rift, and more importantly, save their friends
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Silver here! So...yeah, another story! I know I should be finishing my other stories, but I've had this one for a long time, and I've really been wanting to see if everyone likes it. So...alright then, let's jump right in!**

**And I also, unfortunately, don't own anybody here.**

_**Chapter One**_

"Are you sure, Pipes? I don't want you getting hurt."

Piper sighed, "We'll be fine, dad." She said for the hundredth time, "My friends and I can handle ourselves."

"You're sure I can't come with you?"

"_Yes,_ dad, I'm sure."

Tristan McLean ran his hands through his hair, looking torn. Slowly, he took a deep breath, and Piper crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Alright." He finally said, "You can go."

"_Yes!_" Piper squealed, throwing her hands up triumphantly, a giddy grin forming on her face "Thanks so much, dad!" she cried, launching herself around her father. Her dad smiled, and hugged her back.

"Anything that'll make you this happy is worth it, Pipes." He said. Pier beamed at him, then jumped up.

"I've got to pack!" she said happily, leaping to her feet, "And tell my friends! I'll go to camp and tell them, and then…" she trailed off, then turned on her heel and sprinted out of the room, in a hurry to start packing her clothes.

Piper couldn't believe it. Her dad had just said yes. He was actually letting her use his private plane to let her, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel go on a trip to England! _England!_ For a whole month none the less!

She threw open the door to her room, and grabbed a yellow duffel bag, and began to throw clothes into it.

It had been a month since the giant war ended, and Piper knew everyone was emotionally _and _physically exhausted. Everyone just needed a break, especially Jason, who had been commuting back and forth between the two camps nonstop, ever since the war ended.

She had decided to ask her dad if they could us his plane to go overseas, and he actually said yes!

She threw one last pair of jeans into the bag, then picked it up, and headed to the bathroom. She hastily began to pack toiletries. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. She'd go to camp, tell the rest of the seven, and then they'd leave for England.

Piper grinned to herself. This was going to be great.

_-o0o-_

"Your _joking._" Said Percy, a few hours later. Piper had gotten to camp half blood, and gathered Percy, Annabeth, and Jason in the Aphrodite cabin to tell them the news.

Piper shook her head, "No joke, guys." She said, smiling, "We're going to England!"

For a moment, the rest of the three of them were quiet, and then,

"Piper, that's…_great!_ That's really awesome!" said Percy, a grin forming on his face.

"I've _always_ wanted to go to England!" said Annabeth, "There are so many old structures there, the building designs that you can't find anywhere else…and the architecture…" she trailed off, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Pipes, that's awesome!" said Jason, putting an arm around Piper's shoulders.

"Do you think Frank and Hazel will be able to come?" asked Piper. Frank and Hazel had been especially busy in New Rome lately. Annabeth shook her head.

"Probably not, but we'll iris message them anyway." She said.

"Wait…we're getting there by _plane_?" asked Percy, suddenly nervous.

"Yeah, how else are we…" Piper stopped as realization dawned on her. "Oh." She said dully, mentally face palming herself. How could she have forgotten! Percy couldn't go on planes!

"It'll be fine, Jupiter…or, Zeus, can't blast you now," said Jason, "Not after you saved Olympus _twice._"

"Besides, blasting the plane you're on would also mean killing Jason." Said Annabeth logically, "Zeus wouldn't do that."

Percy nodded apprehensively. "I guess that makes sense…" he said slowly.

"It'll be fine." Said Piper enthusiastically, "Now go pack, guys! Or my dad will change his mind!"

_-o0o-_

England was amazing.

As the four demigods strolled down the cobblestone street, Piper couldn't help but think that, despite the overcast sky, England was absolutely fantastic. Quaint shops lined the streets, and sunshine shone brightly over the many parks and fountains. Even after being here for two weeks, she still couldn't help but awe at London's amazing sights. And they hadn't even encountered a single monster! Piper whished Hazel and Frank could be there, but they couldn't leave New Rome.

The demigods were currently sitting on the edge of a fountain, enjoying ice cream that they had just bought. Piper and Annabeth were laughing at the Percy and Jason, who were engaged in a furious ice-cream-eating race.

Percy's face was smeared with blue cotton candy ice cream when he suddenly jumped up shouting "BRAIN FREEZE, BRAIN FREEZE!"

Jason laughed triumphantly, and stuffed the rest of his vanilla ice cream into his mouth, only to clutch his own head, and shout, "_Arrrgghh! Brain freeze!"_

Piper burst out laughing, while Annabeth rolled her eyes, and muttered, "_Seaweed Brain."_

When Piper finally straightened up from laughter, she asked, "Should we get back to the hotel? It's getting late."

"Yeah, we should." Agreed Annabeth. The group stood up, talking as they began to walk down the cobblestone street. But as they passed by an alleyway, and Annabeth suddenly stopped.

"Did you hear that?" she asked cautiously.

Piper frowned, "Hear what?"

"Shh, listen." Shushed Annabeth. Piper fell silent, and then she heard it as well. Crying. The sound of a small child's sobs were coming from the alleyway.

Without a second thought, Piper strode down the darkened lane, followed quickly by her fellow half-bloods, until a small child came into sight. Huddled in a dark corner, mousey black hair falling over his face, was a small boy. His hair was messed, and he was completely covered with soot and ashes, as if he had just crawled out of a fireplace.

He couldn't have been older than two or three. He was crouched on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest, and his hands over his face as he sobbed; clearly traumatized. Piper's heart immediately ached for the little boy.

She rushed up to him, followed closely by Jason, Percy, and Annabeth.

"Hey." She said gently, crouching down until she was eye level with the boy. He looked up from his hands, and his eyes widened with fear. Letting out a sob, the boy stumbled back, crawling away from Pier as fast as he could.

"No! No strangers! No more strangers!" He wailed, "Wanna' to go home!" He put his face in his hands again, and resumed crying.

"We're not gonna' hurt you." Said Piper soothingly, putting a thin layer of charmspeak into her voice. The boy peeked out from between his fingers, tears still cascading from his sad, gray-black eyes.

"You won' hurt me?" he sniffed, his voice meek and vulnerable. Piper shook her head.

"We're gonna' help you find your parents." She said. Slowly, the boy moved his hands from his face.

"What's your name, kid?" Asked Percy, crouching next to Piper.

"T-Teddy." whispered the boy, wiping his watery eyes with his knuckles. Piper smiled.

"That's a very nice name." she said kindly.

"How did you get here?" asked Annabeth from behind them. At this, the boy, Teddy, burst into tears once again.

"I-I...I not allowed!" he choked out through sobs, "I not allowed floo power!"

Piper blinked, confused. "Floo Powder?" she repeated.

"Fleur say no use floo power! And I use floo power!" He broke down into tears again, "Now I here!"

Piper exchanged glances with the other demigods, who all looked just as confused as she was.

"Alright, calm down, Teddy." she said consolingly, putting a bit more charmspeak into her words, "It'll be alright"

Teddy gulped several times, before his tears receded.

"Where are your parents?" asked Jason. Teddy's brow furrowed at the question.

"They... gone." he said slowly. Piper frowned.

"What do you mean, gone?" asked Annabeth.

Teddy scrunched up his face, thinking hard. "They...happy." said Teddy slowly, "They happy in heaven. Daddy with Prongs and Padfoot and and Mommy with Lilly."

Piper's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. "Your parents are dead?" she asked quietly. Teddy nodded sadly, and the four demigods stared in shock.

"That's rough, buddy." said Jason quietly, patting Teddy's back.

"How long have you been on the streets?" asked Piper. The two year old cocked his head; he did didn't understand the question. "I mean, uh, how long have you been here, Teddy?" she rephrased. Teddy bit his lower lip.

"Long time." he said simply. Piper glanced at Annabeth, who shrugged.

"He's two years old, '_long time' _could mean hours, or days." she said.

"Then where should we take him?" asked Percy, "We can't just leave him here, and we can't get to his parents' house, 'cause he's an orphan."

"Okay Teddy, how about this." said Annabeth, "We'll take you back to our hotel and get you nice and cleaned up. Then we'll find a place for you to stay."

Teddy grinned, "Cleaned up!" he agreed.

That was when it happened. Teddy began to change. Piper watched in shock as his mousey, shaggy brown hair morphed into a fine crop of thick, _turquoise _ hair. His sad, gray-black eyes turned light brown, and his ears grew twice their size. Even his face, which had been naturally long, turned more circular, and cheerful.

All four of the demigods' jaws dropped as they stared at the little boy who looked like an entirely new person.

"Yay!" said Teddy happily, clapping his chubby hands together, as if nothing had happened.

Percy snatched Riptide out of his pocket, but Annabeth grabbed his hand before he could uncap it, hissing something into his ear.

"What-how-how did you…" Piper trailed off, her eyes wide as golf balls.

Teddy clapped his hands, "Look, look!" he cried gleefully, before closing his eyes tightly, a look of concentration coming over his face. Slowly, his oversized ears shrank until they were rightly proportioned.

"How are you _doing _that?!" spluttered Jason.

"Mommy do it, so Teddy do it!" said Teddy, as if it were obvious. Piper's dropped-jaw still hadn't closed.

After a shocked silence Annabeth suddenly snapped her fingers, "You're a child of Aphrodite!" she exclaimed. Piper whirled around to face her.

"He's what?" she asked.

"Think about it," said Annabeth, "Aphrodite can shape-shift, and she's the only goddess that would give that ability to a demigod child. Besides, Teddy did say his _mom_ could do it! It's the only way he could have a power like that and not be a monster."

Piper's hand flew up to her mouth, "You're right!" she cried. Turning back to Teddy, she asked, "Teddy, have you ever _met _your mom?"

Teddy shook his head, looking from one adult to another.

"You _are _a demigod!" said Percy, putting Riptide back into his pocket, "He's your sibling, Piper!" A grin formed on Piper's face.

"Should we take him to camp half-blood?" asked Jason. Annabeth nodded,

"He has no parents here, and judging by how dirty he is, he's been on the streets for a while." she said, "Camp could be his home!"

"That would mean cutting short the vacation." began Jason, "Piper, I know you were really enthusiastic about it, is it okay if-"

"Are you kidding?" interrupted Piper, "Of course it's fine!" She turned back to Teddy, who had a bewildered expression on his face. "Come on, Teddy." she said, "Do you want to get some food."

Teddy's stomach let out a low rumble. "Food." agreed the toddler. Smiling, Piper took Teddy's tiny hand, and walked out of the alley, into the sunshine.

_-o0o-_

Many miles away, there was chaos in the Shell Cottage. Harry Potter, Bill, Ron, and Ginny Weasley ran along the coast and backyard, searching behind bushes and shrubs, while Hermione Granger and Fleur Weasley ransacked the house, looking under beds and inside wardrobes. Alll throughout the area, the cry '_Teddy! Teddy where are you?!" _could be heard.

As Harry pushed aside a shrub to check underneath it, he was mentally kicking himself. He, Ginny Ron, Hermione, and Teddy had been staying at the Shell Cottage for the weekend. Teddy had been playing with Fleur and Bill's daughter, Victoire Weasley. He had left the room for one minute, just _one minute _to use the bathroom, and when he returned, Teddy was gone. Remus and Tonks' only child, gone.

Despite everyone's attempts to tell Harry it wasn't his fault, he still felt like a rotten godfather. As he searched, every horrible thing that could possibly have happened to Teddy seemed to flash through his mind. What if the toddler had fallen off the cliffs into the sea? Or been eaten by wild animals?

Worry, panic, and fear for Teddy build up in his chest as Harry checked inside a hollow log.

"_TEDDY!" _He shouted as loudly as he could, although his voice was beginning to get hoarse. "_TEDDY, WHERE ARE YOU?!"_

"'Arry!" a voice behind him suddenly said. Harry turned around to see Fleur rushing up to him, her silvery sheet of hair flying out behind her as she ran.

"Did you find him?" he asked immediately. Fleur shook her head, and Harry noticed faint tear tracks etched along her face.

"'Arry, 'ze fireplace." he said tearfully, "'Eet haz' been recently lit! And 'ze floo powder spilled everywhere! T-Teddy…"

She burst into tears again, not finishing her sentence. But she didn't need to finish her sentence for Harry to know what had happened. Teddy had accidentally used Floo powder, and been transported to somewhere else. He could be half-way across the world right now, and there was no way to find him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! Firstly,****_wow._**** I can't believe this got so many positive reactions! I wasn't actually thinking of continueing this story until I saw everyone's feed back! Thank you ****_so much_**** everyone who reviewed, you really made my day :) Here, have some cookies: (::) (::) (::) And now, the next chapter!**

_**Chapter Two**_

"Come on, Teddy." said Piper as Camp Half-Blood's van screeched to a halt at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. Teddy didn't move, too busy staring at Argus, the camp's hundred eyed security chief, and currently, their driver.

"'Lotta' eyes." he said blankly, his gaze fixed on Argus' many-eyes body. Piper sighed,

"That's the only thing you said ever since you saw him." she said exasperatedly. Teddy didn't respond. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Teddy, there are a lot of other things to see at camp." said Jason patiently, "Don't you want to see their home?"

"And meet your half-siblings?" added Piper. This seemed to snap Teddy out of his trance, and he tore his eyes away from Argus, and looked at Piper with wide eyes.

"I have s-sib'ings?" he asked, struggling to say the word 'siblings'.

"Well, half siblings actually, your related through your godly parent., Aphrodite." said Annabeth. The two-year-old looked confused at this. He obviously didn't understand what 'Godly Parent' or 'Half-Sibling' meant.

"Yeah, you have siblings." summed up Percy. Teddy looked shocked for a moment, before his face split into the biggest grin Piper had ever seen.

"Sib'ings!" he cried happily, "I wanna' see them!

Piper smiled, "Then come on." she climbed out of the car, and helped Teddy climb out after her. Jason, Annnabeth, Percy, and Argus climbed out after them. After quickly grabbing their suitcases from the back of the huge '_Delphi Strawberry Service' _van that they had been driving in, they headed up Half-Blood Hill, Teddy running eagerly ahead of them. Piper felt a surge of affection for the little boy.

When they arrived at the top of the hill overlooking the camp, Teddy's jaw dropped, and never closed. His head spun around in twenty directions, trying to take everything in at once, from the sword-fighting arena to the archery range to the pegasus stables.

"So Teddy, this is out camp." said Percy, "What do you think?"

"So...big!" said Teddy, stumbling over his words, "And pretty!"

Piper smiled, "Yes, it is big and pretty." she said. "Come on, let's go check it out." Piper strode down the hill, and Teddy followed her closely, clinging to her hand.

Teddy seemed to be absolutely delighted by everything he passed.

"What's that?!"

"That's the archery range."

"What's that?!"

"That's the canoe lake.."

"What's that?!"

"That's the rock climbing wall-no Teddy, don't _touch_ it! You'll burn yourself!"

Soon, they had reached the cabins area. A lot of the campers stared as they passed, but Piper couldn't blame them. It wasn't often you saw someone as young as Teddy at camp, and it didn't help that Teddy's hair was now changing rapidly from turquoise, to red, to green, to yellow, and back to turquoise.

"These are the cabins, Teddy." said Piper, "You're going to sleep in cabin ten, the Aphrodite cabin."

"Can we go there?" Asked Teddy suddenly, his eyes fixed on cabin Twenty.

"No, Teddy, that's Hecate's cabin." said Piper. "She's the goddess of _magic_, not _your_ godly parent."

"Magic!" Said Teddy happily, and he bounced off towards the Hecate cabin. Piper smiled, and shook her head, then followed Teddy as he skipped towards the door of the cabin. As soon as he reached the torch-flanked doors, they swung open, revealing the daughter of Hecate Piper recognized as Lou-Ellen.

Teddy's hair turned orange with surprise, and Lou-Ellen stared at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion on her face.

"Er-hey kiddo'." she said uncertainly.

"Um…" Teddy's shoulders shot up, and he rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Hi." he said quietly.

"Hi Lou!" Said Piper. "Sorry- this is Teddy. He's a new camper-a child or Aphrodite. I was just taking him to our cabin."

"Pretty young to be a camper." Said Lou, "How old are you, Teddy?"

"Two." said Teddy, holding up five fingers. Both girls laughed.

"Well, Teddy, if you ever want to see some magic, you'll know where to find me." said Lou.

"Hawwy' and Ginny do magic all the time!" Said Teddy brightly. "Hawwy' magic the chair to fly, once!"

Lou-Ellen shot a quizzical look at Piper, who shrugged in return. "He's been going on about this Harry and Ginny ever since we found him." she said, shrugging. "But seeing as how Harry and Ginny can apparently do magic, my guess is they're his imaginary friends."

Lou-Ellen frowned, "You don't suppose they could be real people, do you? Maybe his siblings, or something?"

"No." said Piper. "Teddy's an orphan, and when we found him, he was on the streets. There can't be anyone looking out for him...no one _real_, I mean."

"Ah," Said Lou-Ellen, nodding, "Well,.go on Teddy. You probably want to meet your half-siblings."

"Yeah!" Teddy agreed, and he allowed Piper to lead him off to the Aphrodite cabin, but as they reached the threshold of the dollhouse-of-a-cabin, Teddy wrinkled his nose.

"So...girly." He said. Piper laughed,

"It is, isn't it. Don't worry, it's a little better on the inside."

"I wanna' go to the magic cabin." he complained.

"Sorry, Teddy. The magic cabin is only for children of Hecate. Your stuck here."

Grumbling, Teddy walked with PIper into the meticulously neat cabin. The heavy smell of designer perfume rolled onto her, and Teddy coughed as the aroma hit him. Several of the campers who were sitting on their bunks, browsing through fashion magazines, looked up, and as soon as they caught sight of teddy, several of the girls '_awwed'_. Lucy got up from her bunk, and flunced over to the two year old, followed by two other girls named Dana and Chloe.

"Awww, who's _this _little guy?" she asked, crouching down next to Teddy, a look of adoration on her face.

"T-Teddy." muttered Teddy, apparently overwhelmed by the attention.

Lucy and Dana both '_awwed'_ in sync, while Chloe gushed "That's such a cute name!" she reached over to pinch his cheek, but Teddy edged behind Pipers legs.

"Give him some space, guys. He's shy." said Piper.

"He's _adorable_." said Dana.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Said Drews drawling voice from the top of her bunk, "He's just a scrawny, skimpy little kid. I've _stepped_ in things that are cuter than him."

Lucy, Dana and Chloe all gasped, as if drew had just mortally offended them, and Teddy whimpered, his lower lip beginning to shake. A flare of anger shot up in Piper's chest.

"Take that _back_, Drew." She growled.

"Why, dumpster girl? It's not like I said anything about _you_."

"Is this _seriously_ how low you're going to sink, Drew?" snarled Piper, "Picking on a _two-year-old?! _That's just...just-"

"I"m just saying what everyone else is thinking." said Drew in a bored voice, "It's not my fault the dumpster girl got so attached to a piece of trash."

Piper wanted to punch Drew in the face, but restrained herself as she heard Teddy give a small sob."You're not the most horrible person on the earth, Drew." She said, her tone deathly quiet, "You're worse than that."

"Yeah, give it a rest, Drew. He's just a kid." said Lucy, looking astonished at her own daring to talk back to Drew.

"Come on, Teddy. We've got better places to be." said Piper, taking the little boy out of the cabin. "Don't listen to that monster."

That night, Teddy sat next to Piper at the campfire. Almost everyone had heard about him, the only two year old demigod to come to camp half-blood, and almost everyone had heard about the inseparable bond he and PIper had made.

During the middle of the nightly sing-along, Annabeth sidled up next to Piper.

"So you've pretty much adopted Teddy, huh?" Annabeth said to her. Piper frowned

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know, you're the one who found him, the one who convinced him to come with us, you bought new clothes for him, cleaned him up, you even bought him ice-cream!" said Annabeth, "You've practically adopted him."

Piper shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. But he's an an orphan _and _just a little kid. Anyone would do what I did."

"Not anyone would insist on being as motherly as possible to him, and make sure he was always happy." said Annabeth, "Not anyone would stand up to Drew for him, or wake up in the middle of the night like you did when he started crying."

Piper considered this. On their last day in England, during the middle of the night, Teddy had woken up and started crying, mumbling something about the full moon. Piper had gotten up, and comforted him, then stayed up for an hour putting him back to sleep. Annabeth was right, no one would do that unless they _really _cared about him.

"Well...I guess so." said Piper, "But he's my _sibling_. Well...half-sibling, but same difference. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just a bit curious." Said Annabeth, "I've never seen you bond like this with anyone else before. Why Teddy?"

Piper glanced at Teddy. Will Solace had picked the two year old up, and put him on his shoulders. Teddy's hair was now rapidly changing colors and he happily sang along to the campfire song, and Piper smiled.

"Well, it was just what I had to do.." she said, "You know how hard it is being ignored by a parent, and Teddy didn't have _any_ parents. I felt sorry for him. No one that young should have to be alone in the world."

Annabeth smiled, "That's really sweet, Piper." she said, "And the way you're going with Teddy, he's _definitely_ in good hands. He's never going to be alone."

_-o0o-_

Harry paced the bottom floor of the burrow. His hair was even more messed up than usual, since he had run his fingers through it with worry so much. There were bags under his eyes from staying up all night, searching for Teddy. And yet, there was no sign of little boy.

"Harry, dear, you _must_ get some sleep now." Said a concerned Mrs. Weasley. "I know you're worried, but you'll never find Teddy if you're so sleep-deprived."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, but I can't." said Harry, pausing in his pacing. He looked over Hermione, who was sitting at the kitchen table, books spread out all around her.

"Anything yet?" he asked.

"Nine books on locating things, and not a _single_ tracking spell!" said Hermione, sounding stressed. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'll keep looking, but I'm not sure…" she trailed off, not finishing her sentence, and opened a new book, and resumed reading.

Harry turned as he heard a sudden tapping at the window, and saw Hermes, Percy's owl, rapping at the window, a letter clamped in his beak. He rushed to open the window, and grabbed the letter. After seeing it was addressed to him, he tore it open, and read the hastily scribbled message on the parchment.

_Dear Harry,_

_We've gone all the way to Godric's Hollow, and there's still no sign of Teddy. Keep us posted on how the tracking spell is working out, and please, __**don't **__beat yourself up about this, Harry, none of this is your fault. One way or another, we'll find Teddy, that's a promise._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

He stared at the letter for a moment, and bleak disappointment washed over him like a tidal wave. He walked over to a chair by the kitchen table, and pulled on of Hermione's books towards him, trying to keep regret from overwhelming him.

_None of this is your fault, _the letter had said. But it was. If he had only been a better godfather, been more careful when watching over Teddy...

"Mrs. Weasleys right, Harry. You _need_ to get some rest." said Hermione, jolting Harry out of his thoughts. "You look awful, and you've been up all night searching. You still would be if Ginny hadn't forced you to come back here. You've done everything you can, and at the moment, the best thing for you right now would be some sleep."

"Right now, the best thing for me isn't important." Said Harry irritably, "Don't you get it, Teddy is _missing!_ It's like he just vanished off the face of the earth, and it's my fault I-"

"Harry, _please_." interrupted Hermione, "It's _not_ your fault. You're only human Harry, you're not perfect. You can't expect yourself to never make a mistake, raising a child is hard. And you certainly can't expect yourself to go on much longer without rest." Her voice turned stern as she continued, "You're going to collapse from exhaustion soon, Harry. You _need_ sleep, now _go_ upstairs, and get some rest, or I'll force-feed you a sleeping draught."

Harry knew this was an empty threat, but Hermione was right. He _had _done all he could. He had stayed up all night searching, scoured endless books for spells that could help find Teddy, he had even been to the Ministry, and pulled some strings so that the Ministry had sent out a general announcement to all of Britain to help find Teddy. There was nothing else he could do.

Sighing with defeat, he rose from the table, and walked up the stairs to the top floor. It was only when he was in his sleeping bag on the floor of Ron's room that he realized how heavy his eyes felt. But he couldn't sleep. Not with the withering, twisted knot of guilt in his stomach.

_I'm __**going**_ _to find you, Teddy. _He silently vowed to himself _Just hang in there a little while longer... I don't know where you are, but for now, I just hope you're in good hands._

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review, and see you (metaphorically) next chapter!**

**~Silver Wing**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! And, as you can see, I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry about the long wait. I'm the queen of procrastination. Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! **

_**Chapter Three**_

"For the hundredth time, _no._" said Piper.

"Oh, _come on_, Beauty Queen,"- Piper flinched at the nickname-she was only okay with Leo using that name- "it's not like he's going to be in any _real_ danger." said Clarisse, "Stop being such a mother to him."

"I'm not being a mother to him, I'm using _common sense._ Teddy's too young to hold a weapon of any kind, much less _train _with one."

"Oh yeah, and I suppose the monsters are going to leave him alone too, because," Clarisse put on a simpering, high pitched voice imitating Piper, "_He's too __**young**__."_

"Firstly, I don't sound like that," said Piper indignantly, "and second, they _will _actually leave him alone. His scent isn't strong enough to attract any monsters."

"Annabeth started using a knife when she was seven-"

"Seven is a _lot_ older than _two._ T.W.O Clarisse!" said Piper.

"Beauty Queen, you gotta open your eyes." said Clarisse, "Look ever there." She pointed at Teddy, who was sitting at the other end of the training arena, holding Riptide (in it's full form) curiously in his hands while Percy stood over him, making sure he didn't get hurt.

"See? He's holding a weapon, and he isn't butchering himself with it." Said Clarisse, "He's perfectly able to-"

At that moment, the Dinner Conch rang, and Piper let out a tiny sigh of relief. "_Saved by the bell."_ she muttered. "C'mon Teddy, dinner!" she called to the little boy. Teddy gave Riptide back to Percy, and bounced towards Piper. Clarisse huffed irritably, then stalked off to put away her armour.

On their way to the Dining Pavillion, Lucy caught up to Piper, walking with an excited skip in her step.

"Oh, I can't wait for campfire tonight." She said, 'It's a full-moon night!"

Piper frowned at her, "What's so great about the full moon night?"

"Oh, you don't know?" said Lucy, "Well, every full moon, instead of having a sing-along, people tell spooky stories. Most of them suck, but I got got _really _good one planned out."

"What's it about?" Asked Piper with mild interest as they reached the pavilion.

"It's about this girl who bought a _beautiful_ dress for a halloween party, but then,. a ghost comes and switches it out with a paper bag, and she has to wear that instead!" Said Lucy, as if this was the most horrifying thing in the world.

"Er-" Piper did her best to look fearful as she stepped into the line for food, "That's a really, uh, _unique_ scary story. I can see why you want to share it for Full-Moon Night."

Teddy suddenly froze. "F-Full moon?" He repeated, looking up at Piper, his face suddenly white.

"Yes, Teddy." Said Lucy, smiling.

Teddy's hair turned abruptly black, and Piper swore she saw him shrink a few inches. "I-I don' like Full-Moon." Teddy squeaked out.

"Wow, looks like my story is too scary for kids!" Said Lucy, looking surprised.

"Don't worry, Teddy. None of these stories are actually real." said Piper comfortingly. But Teddy looked more worried than ever.

oO0Oo

As Piper predicted, Full Moon Night turned out to be a bit of a joke. Most of the scary stories were as bad as Lucy's, and some even worse.

_Maybe they make the stories bad on purpose._ Thought Piper as a daughter of Demeter finished her 'scary' story about a tulip plant that turned into a frankenstein. _We've seen enough monsters in our lives without having to make spooky stories up about them._

Piper glanced at Teddy, and saw, to her surprise, that he looked positively fearful. Piper didn't think any of the stories were remotely frightening, but Teddy's hair had tuned (if possible) a _darker_ shade of black, and he had shrank a good six inches, his complexion had turned milky white. He almost looked like a mini-Nico Di Angelo.

"You alright, Teddy?" She asked, putting a comforting arm around the boy. Teddy shook his head. "Don't worry. Full-Moon Night's just about over, I think."

"The moon's behind a cloud." Said Teddy quietly, looking up at the cloudy sky as if he expected a monster to pop out, "That's good…"

Piper shot a quizzical look at Annabeth, who was sitting next to her, and Annabeth gave a baffled shrug. "Probably just the scary stories getting to him." she said.

Piper nodded, "I suppose so...he's not coming to the next Full Moon Night, that's for sure."

Annabeth nodded, and at that moment, Will Solace stood up.

"Alright, it's 10:00, everyone!" he shouted over the babble of talk. "Full Moon Night's over! Everyone back to your cabins!"

A lot of people shouted _Thank Gods_ or _About time!_ as they left the campfire, trooping back to the cabins.

"Come on, Teddy." said Piper, taking to two year old's hand as they walked back towards the cabin. Teddy hadn't clutched her hand this hard since they first arrived at camp. Maybe these stories _were _too scary for him.

By the time they had arrived at the cabin and Teddy had changed into his pajamas (an adorable teddy-bear onesie that the Aphrodite campers had picked out for him) he still didn't look any better. In fact, he looked worse. He was continually biting his lip, staring out of the window at the cloud that was hiding the moon.

"Teddy?" Piper finally said as she tucked him under the covers of his bunk, "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"The moon is comin'. The full moon...Piper, I'm scared." he said fearfully.

"What are you scared of?" asked Piper.

"Because in the full moon, the wolf comes out…" he said, "I hate the wolf...it hurts me….I'm scared, Piper!"

"Shhh, there's no need to be afraid, Teddy." said Piper, hiding her confusion about what 'The Wolf' was, "You're going to be perfectly safe, I'm not going to let any wolf get you."

"You won't?" said Teddy.

"Of course not. Now get some sleep, silly goose."

Teddy smiled a bit, then snuggled down under the covers, closing his eyes. Sighing with relief, Piper climbed up onto her bunk, which was right above Teddy's, and closed her own eyes, still wondering what Teddy had meant by 'The Wolf'.

oO0Oo

Two hours later, at exactly midnight,Piper, along with the rest of the Aphrodite cabin, was jolted awake by an ear shattering scream.

"What's going on?!"cried Piper, instantly awake. The scream sounded again, and this time, fully awake, Piper realized it was coming from right below her. From Teddy.

"Teddy?!" She cried, leaping down off her bunk. Almost the whole cabin had gathered around Teddy's bed, trying to calm down the screaming little boy. Shoving past a few of her siblings, she approached Teddy's bed. Teddy had pushed off his blankets, and was rolling over and over on the mattress, curled into a tight ball, his eyes clamped shut.

"Teddy, what's wrong?" said Piper, trying to pick the toddler up, but he rolled away from her arms, still writhing in pain. What was wrong with him?! Was he having a demigod dream? Worry rose up in Piper's chest.

"Teddy, _calm down." _tried Piper, pouring all her charmspeak into her words, but it had no effect on Teddy.

The boy screamed again, then his eyes snapped open. There was a collective gasp from the Aphrodite campers, and they all surged backwards, away from the bed. Teddy's eyes had turned a sickly, poisonous yellow, his pupils contracting into slits. Although Teddy had changed his appearance numerous times, he had never changed his eye color.

As Teddy screamed again, his voice turned deeper until he was howling, a long, mournful howl. The howl of a wolf. He began to change, but not in the way he normally did. Coarse, gray hair began to force it's way up through his skin. His legs and arms changed shape until they resembled front and hind legs. His hands and feet morphed into paws with deadly sharp claws, and his nose elongated into a snout. Fangs burst from his mouth, and pointed ears grew on top of his head. Within seconds, Teddy, son of Aphrodite had disappeared, replaced with a crouched, snarling wolf.

For a second, the Aphrodite campers just stared with shock, too stunned to move. Then, a scream erupted from the back of the group, and the whole cabin began to run, tripping over each other, and sprinting towards the exit.

Piper hadn't moved. Her eyes were fixed on the wolf sitting on Teddy's bed. It was stooped over, whimpering.

"_T-Teddy?!"_ she choked out in barely more than a whisper. The creature looked up, fixing it's slit-pupiled eyes on her.

"Teddy, is that you?"

For a moment, the wolf didn't move. Then, it let out a long, piercing howl, and lunged at her, baring it's claws. Piper yelped, and stumbled out of the way. The wolf landed on the floor, and snarled at her, it's long, yellow fangs exposed.

"Teddy, no! It's me, Piper!" she cried, appalled. The wolf lunged again, and Piper felt a pair of hands pull her out of the way just in time, and drag her out of the cabin.

"Pipes, are you crazy?!" shouted her rescuer. It was Jason. He, as well as most of the other campers, were gathered outside the Aphrodite cabin. Demigods were spilling out of the other cabins, looking confused. The Aphrodite campers were still terrified, their eyes wide as golf-balls.

"A wolf! there's a wolf in our cabin!" Piper could hear one of her siblings screaming.

"No! That's Teddy in there!" she said, "Something wrong with him!"

"Piper, what are you talking about?!" said Jason.

Piper opened her mouth to reply, but at moment, the loud, sharp sound of shattering glass filled the air. She whirled around to see wicked sharp shards of glass flying through the air, as Wolf-Teddy leaped through the window, his front and hind legs outstretched, his upper lip peeled away flashing yellow fangs. The silvery light from the moon seemed to cling to his monstrous form, making him grow larger and taller. Suddenly, he had morphed from a cub to a horrific, full-grown wolf.

There were gasps and screams as Wolf-Teddy landed limberly on the grass in a crouched position. He lunged at the nearest camper with shocking dexterity,roaring barbarically.

Some campers surged away from the wolf, shrieking, but others drew closer, their weapons ready. Piper saw Percy a few feet away uncapping Riptide, and Annabeth running out of the Athena cabin, her dagger in hand. Piper grabbed Jason's hand before he could reach for his imperial-gold Coin.

"Guys, wait! Stop!" she shouted desperately over the chaos, forgetting to even put Charmspeak into her words. Jason looked at her, a his electric-blue eyes alert, and wary, but he stopped reaching for his sword. Percy and Annabeth, with a glance at their friend, also heeded her words, and lowered their weapons, running towards Piper, but there was no stopping the hoard of angry campers as they advanced on Wolf-Teddy.

"Piper, what's going on?" Annabeth shouted over the din, "How did a wolf get into your cabin?"

"That's not a wolf, that's Teddy!" said Piper, dimly aware she was making no sense.

"Teddy?" repeated Jason, "How?"

"In our cabin- I-I don't know how-he transformed into a wolf!"

"That's _Teddy?!_" Said Percy, just catching on, glancing at the wolf. "Are you sure?"

"I know it sound crazy, but it's the truth." insisted Piper, looking pleadingly at each of her friends' faces. Annabeth nodded understandingly.

"We have to get Teddy out of here before he gets hurt!" she said, but one second too late. Piper heard a loud, angry war cry behind her, and turned to see Clarisse, her electric spear leveled, charging towards Wolf-Teddy, backed by the Ares campers.

"Wait!" cried Piper, but her voice was completely drowned out.

Clarisse jabbed her spear towards Wolf-Teddy, but he leapt out of the way agily, a deep, menacing growl rising up from his throat. He lunged at Clarisse, who rolled out of way just in time. Two other campers charged at Wolf-Teddy from behind, swords drawn. He kicked out hind legs, moving away from the swords, but not before one of the celestial bronze blades cut deep into back.

Wolf-Teddy howled in agony, then lunged again at Clarisse, pinning her to the ground, ground.

"Get off of me, monster." growled Clarisse, fire in her eyes. She kicked Wolf-Teddy with tremendous strength, but not enough to get the fully-grown monster off of her. The daughter of Ares raised her spear, and Piper could see the electricity flickering on it's tip. Wolf-Teddy raised his claws, and just as he was about to go for the kill, Piper raised her voice, and pouring as much charmspeak as possible into her words, she hollered,

"_FREEZE!"_

Piper's charmspeak had done amazing things before. It had even put Gaea herself to sleep. So naturally, as she poured all her charmspeak into the one command, everything around her froze in place, as if someone had just pressed a pause button on the world. Some campers had frozen mid scream, others in the middle of running away. Clarisse's hands had frozen just as she was going to stab Wolf-Teddy, and Teddy had frozen in the middle of slashing at Clarisse. Even the air seemed to have frozen in place. Piper looked around in awe of what she had done. She was literally the only moving thing in all of camp.

The Charmspeak's affect first wore off of Percy, Annabeth, and Jason, who looked around at the frozen scene with confusion.

"_Dang,_ Piper." said Jason, "That charmspeak was really powerful."

Clarisse was the next to recover from the charmspeak, followed by several of the attacking campers, and finally, every other camper who was watching. Teddy himself did not move.

For a moment, everyone stood bewildered at what had happened, and then.

"What're you waiting for?!" Clarisse shouted, "Get it!"

Campers surged forward and pinned Teddy to be ground just as he was beginning to recover from the charmspeak, a deep growl rising up in his throat.

"No!" roared Piper before anyone could attack. This time, she didn't need charmspeak to get everyone's attention, but Teddy remained pinned to be ground, held by at least fifteen campers.

"What are you doing, Piper?!" Growled Clarisse menacingly, "Why did you freeze everything, a why are you defending this _thing?!"_

"It's _not_ a monster!" she shouted to everyone around her. The statement was met by a ripple of confused or skeptical muttering. "Teddy turned into a wolf." she continued. She internally flinched at how ridiculous it sounded. "In our cabin, at midnight, he somehow transformed into a wolf." she explained, "I don't know why, but if you kill that wolf, you kill Teddy."

Clarisse was looking at Piper with complete disbelief, when suddenly a meek voice spoke up.

"Teddy _did _turn into a wolf." It was Lucy, looking scared out of her wits as she pushed her way towards Piper's side. "I saw it myself. It was…" she trailed off, shuddering. "Really horrible."

As if a dam had been broken, the Aphrodite campers began to speak up.

"I woke up and heard Teddy screaming!"

"I didn't actually see him transform, but I did see the wolf sitting where he had been moments ago."

"He started transforming as soon as the moon came out, at midnight."

Soon, almost every Aphrodite camper was forcing their way to the front, all eager to give their own account of what had happened.

"How did Teddy get like this though." Jason asked, "And how long will he be like this?"

"Until the full moon's gone." Said Piper automatically.

"How do you know that?" Asked Annabeth, looking nervously at the still struggling Wolf-Teddy.

"He...he told me." She said, "All through full moon night at campfire he had been acting strange, and kept talking about the moon. Then when we got back to the cabins, he told me that the full moon was going to make him turn into a wolf." Piper felt a knot of guilt grip her stomach. "I'm so stupid...I should have taken him seriously."

Jason took Piper's hand. "It's not your fault." He said, "How could you have known Teddy was _actually_ going to...you know..." He gestured at Teddy, trailing off.

Suddenly, Wolf-Teddy let out a long, loud howl. Piper looked up and instantly realized why. On the far off horizon, a pale wash of warm, pink light was beginning to tint the sky, signaling the beginning of dawn. Full moon night was over.

Wolf-Teddy was shaking on the ground, shudders running through his body so violently that he campers holding him were thrown off. He let out another howl, a sound of pure agony and began to writhe on the floor, rolling around and around. Then, he began to transform again. Campers gasped as his fangs shrunk into tiny, pearly white teeth and his snout morphed into a nose. The fur on his body forced its way back under his skin, and his tail seemed to wither away and disappear. Teddy let out another howl, but this time, Piper could hear the sound of a scared child under the mournful howl. As the transformation finished, all the half bloods seemed to be in complete shock, staring at the tiny, black haired toddler lying on the ground before them.

Piper ran forward towards a Teddy, followed by Jason, and gently scooped him up in her arms, cradling the child to her chest. She could feel him shivering in her arms, and see beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His entire body was red from pain. He felt vulnerable, and frail, like if she dropped him, he would shatter into a million pieces.

Teddy whimpered, his head turning a bit. Then his eyes slowly opened. Piper had never been more happy to see those big, brown eyes.

"H-Hawwy?" Teddy slowly choked out, his voice weak, and soft. The thing that had been keeping Piper from breaking down that night seemed to vanish, and she let out a sob of relief.

"P-Pi'er." Said Teddy, recognizing her. Then, he buried his head into her chest and began to sob, his entire body shaking with his cries. Piper could feel her shirt getting wet from his tears.

"Oh gods, Teddy..." She finally managed to get out. She rubbed Teddy's head soothingly, but the child just cried harder.

"I wanna' go _home_!" Sobbed Teddy, "I wan' Hawwy and Ginny!"

"Shhh, Teddy it's okay." She whispered. "You're okay Teddy, you're safe. I've got you, Teddy."

Slowly but surely, Teddy's cries faded away until he was whimpering in Piper's arms, his hands clutching hers like a lifeline.

"Pi'er." He whispered. "My back...it hurts, Pi'er."

"Your back?" Repeated Piper, her hand traveling slowly to Teddy's back. Suddenly, she felt something much warmer, and much wetter than Teddy's tears. When she pulled her hand back, it was covered in shocking, shiny, scarlet blood.

She gasped, and turned Teddy onto his back. Her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment at what she saw. Where one of the campers had impaled Wolf-Teddy's back, there was a huge, gaping wound, covered in red blood.

"Oh my gods..." She whispered, then louder, "Somebody help him! He's hurt!"

Will Solace rushed forward, followed by two other Apollo healers. He slowly took Teddy from Pipers arms, examining the wound. As soon as Teddy realized he wasn't with Piper, he began to whimper again, but Piper didn't reach over to hold him, knowing the healers would know what to do more than she would.

"This is bad." Muttered Will, "He's been bleeding for a while, and the wound is deep. Worse, he was impaled by celestial bronze." Will looked up at Pper. "He needs to go to the infirmary." he said.

Piper nodded, and as she was about to follow Will as he rushed off, she felt a hand on her shoulder restrain her. She looked up, and saw it was Chiron, a grave look in his eyes.

"One moment, Piper." he said, "I need you at the Big House." he turned to to rest of the campers, "As well as all the other head councilors. We need to hold a meeting"

"Why?" demanded Piper, looking towards the infirmary.

"Teddy." said Chiron simply. "During this night, he turned into a wolf, terrorized the Aphrodite campers, and injured some of the half-bloods who tried to fight him."

Piper looked for the first time at the Ares campers who had been holding Teddy down or trying to fight him, and realized how injured they had become. Apparently Teddy's wolf form was more powerful than a normal wolf.

"We're holding this meeting," continued Chiron," decide on whether or not Teddy shall be allowed to stay at camp."

_-o0o-_

Harry stared out the window of the Burrow, watching the Full Moon slowly give way to the dawn as the sun began to rise. Ginny, who was sitting next to him on the couch of of the Burrow's living room, sighed.

"I don't even know where I hope Teddy is right now." said Ginny sadly. "If he was in the muggle world and he transformed, well, at this point they've probably locked him up somewhere. And even if he was in the wizarding world, wizards and witches aren't exactly the friendliest with werewolves."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope wherever Teddy is, he's alone." said Ron, who was next to Hermione looking through books. "It's probably best for him."

After all of Europe had been searched for Teddy, they had given up searching manually, and instead resolved to look for any spell that could help them trace Teddy.

Although no one in the room was saying it, everyone was thinking the same thing. Without the wolfsbane potion, this night became lethal for Teddy. For all they knew, he was dead, killed by a scared witch, wizard, of muggle. The thought squeezed Harry's heart like a cold, iron fist.

As if Ginny knew what he was thinking, she took his hand, and squeezed it reassuringly. Harry squeezed back. Even though she had been a constant reassurance to him for days, he knew she was just as worried as he was. He sighed, then tore his eyes away from the moon to the heavy book onto his lap, a thick volume entitled '_A Searcher's Guide to Seeking'_. Flipping it open, he turned to the index, and ran his finger along the endless lists of spells the book contained.

Then, suddenly, he saw it. Near the bottom of the page, in smudged ink writing, '_Tracking Potion-Locate lost items or people'_

His heart jumped into his throat, beating twice as fast. He rapidly flipped through the pages until the book fell open to the Tracking Potion page.

"I've got the it! _I've got it!" _He exclaimed, leaping up from his seat.

"You've got it?!" Repeated Ron, looking up from his book excitedly. In less than fifteen seconds, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had all crowded around Harry, eagerly looking at the potion.

"Oh, Harry, you found it!" Exclaimed Ginny, throwing her arms around him. Harry kissed her, grinning happily.

Hermione too the book from Harry's hands, reading the instructions for the potion with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Of course...of _course!"_ she was muttering, "It was a _potion._ That's why we couldn't find it in any of the spelling books!"

"Hermione, do you think you can brew it?" Asked Harry, looking over her shoulder at the potion instructions.

"Of course." said Hermione, "It's a fairly simple potion, and we have all the ingredients, but it'll take two days to simmer."

Harry nodded, feeling like a huge, heavy had just been taken off of his shoulders. He turned to look at Ginny, who hadn't looked this happy in days.

"I'll send an owl to Mum and the rest of the Order." said Ron, "tell them we've got the potion." He hurried off to write the letters, and Hermione zoned out completely as she grabbed a copper cauldron from a cupboard, and rushed over to the kitchen to fill it with water.

They had found it. They were on their way to Teddy. Harry felt waves of relief washing over him.

_We're on our way Teddy. _He thought quietly, _We're coming for you._

**Yay! Another chapter! :) What d'you think? Please review, and until next time, everyone!**

**~Silver**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

Piper shifted impatiently in her seat at the Ping Pong table of the Big House, watching as the other cabin counselors filed into room. Everyone was wearing queer mixes of armour and pajamas, some without shoes, but Piper supposed that was just to be expected seeing as how it was now two a.m. in the morning.

She glanced over at the window for the hundredth time, looking in the direction of the infirmary. Suddenly, she felt a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked to see Jason sitting down next to her. Sighing, she leaned against him as he put his arm around her.

"He'll be okay." Jason murmured to her, "Teddy's a tough little guy...I got impaled with celestial bronze before, and I was okay thanks to you...he'll be okay, I promise."

Piper nodded mutely, trying desperately to keep tears from filling her eyes. The bit of loving comfort Jason had given her was almost enough to push her over the edge, but she couldn't afford to break down now. Not in the middle of a meeting.

"I don't think I need to say why we are here." Chiron began, taking a seat at the head of the table. "So to keep this as brief as possible, let's get straight to the votes. We'll go around the table. Each counselor will state whether or not they believe Teddy should be able stay, and why. I suppose we'll begin with cabin one. Jason?"

"I vote yes." said Jason immediately. "Everything Teddy did tonight...he definitely wouldn't do normally. What he did, it wasn't his choice."

Chiron nodded, and looked at Percy.

"He should be able to stay." said Percy. "Teddy's just a little kid...I know if I had been left alone at his age...I wouldn't stand a chance."

The Demeter cabin was next. "Teddy should stay." said Katie Gardner. "Camp Half-Blood is a place for all demigods. Including Teddy."

Piper felt a temporary relief for a moment, which was diminished moments later as she realized the Ares cabin voted next.

"I vote no." said Clarisse. "Half-Bloods got wounded fighting Teddy. Who knows when he might go all monster mode next? Someone could be killed. I won't stand for having a monster in the camp's borders."

Piper felt her heart sinking. And the worst part was, Clarisse was right. Who knew what could happen if Teddy transformed again? Jason squeezed her hand as Piper's fingers began to tap the table nervously.

Athena cabin was next. ""While it's true Teddy is an extremely unpredictable factor, and keeping him here is a risk" began Annabeth, "This is only because he is so new. Nothing cannot be learned. With proper study, we could find out what exactly happened to Teddy, and prevent it from happening again. Even if we can't prevent it from happening, we can be ready for it. Also, this is an opportunity to learn about a completely new thing. Something we might have to fight against in the future. Sending that away is completely illogical...besides," Annabeth half smiled, "We've faced worse, haven't we? I vote we let Teddy stay."

The vote moved on to the Apollo cabin. Will wasn't there, still busy with Teddy, and instead, the co-counselor, a girl named Cassie sat in his place.

"The Apollo cabin is in charge of healing, and by extension, the welfare of campers in general. Unfortunately...Teddy _is _a threat to that." Cassie shrugged. "Teddy is still young, he won't attract monsters, and there are places for kids like him to stay outside of camp. He can return when he begins to actually attract monsters. I vote no."

The Hephaestus cabin was next. Nyssa, the councilor,sat up a little straighter. "Well...nobody got hurt too badly, and like Annabeth said, we've faced worse...I think he should stay."

It was the Aphrodite cabin's turn next. All eyes in the room turned to Piper, and she cleared her throat. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Anyone who knows Teddy knows he would never hurt a fly. Everything he did tonight was out of his control, a-and he shouldn't be blamed for it." she paused. It physically hurt to talk about what Teddy had done. "Camp is a place to keep demigods safe, and Teddy is a demigod just like all of us. He...he has nowhere else to go." A huge lump had formed in Piper throat. She knew she should say more, instead, she just choked out. "I vote yes." before falling silent.

Jason put his arm around her again, and the vote moved one. The Hermes, Dionyus, and Hypnos cabin voted yes, but when it reached the Hecate cabin, Lou-Ellen began to wring her fingers, a concerned look on her face.

"I like that Teddy kid...I really do. Huge magic enthusiast, he is. Always hanging around our cabin." she paused, "But...what happened tonight...magic was involved, I could feel it. But...it was different. Strange. Almost..._forgien-_like. I've never felt magic like that. And any magic that a child of the _magic_ goddess can't understand...I just don't know if it's too risky to have around. I'm really sorry, Piper, but...I gotta' vote no."

She did look truly sorry, but that didn't stop Piper from feeling bleakness wash over her. Her spirits sunk further down as the vote from the Tyche cabin was no.

"I think we got lucky that no one was hurt too badly, and that Teddy transformed back quickly." said Clover, the councilor of the Tyche cabin. "But knowing my mother, the luck goddess won't be that generous next time. I say it's too risky to have Teddy around."

It wasn't a surprise when the Nike and Nemesis cabins voted no. After all the perfect revenge on Teddy would be to send him away, and chances of victory against an unperdictability like Teddy were slim, should he turn back into a monster again. The Hebe and Iris cabins both voted yes, both saying Teddy was very young, and deserved a second chance. Finally, only the Hades cabin was left.

"I vote yes." said Nico without hesitation, "Threat or not, kicking a two year old out of camp is just wrong. This is the only place Teddy has family left, and you would _disown _him? Teddy should stay."

Piper felt a giant weight lift off her shoulders. All the votes were in, and they had added up to-

"Eleven votes yes, nine votes no." said Chiron. "It is decided, Teddy will stay at camp, this meeting is adjourned. Councilors, instruct your cabin to go back to bed, gods know it's _far _past curfew. Piper, Jason, you two may visit Teddy if you-"

Piper couldn't have gotten to the door faster, Jason right behind her, sprinting as fast as they could across camp to the infirmary. When she crossed the threshold of the building, Piper didn't even stop to catch her breath. Se scanned the room full of clean white cots, looking for only one person.

"Why isn't he here?" said Jason aloud, looking around, "Where's Teddy?"

At that moment, a door in the back of the infirmary opened, and Will Solace walked out, a tired, grim expression on his face. When he spotted Piper and Jason, he rushed over.

"How'd the meeting go?" he asked, "What's the verdict on Teddy?"

"He can stay." Said Piper. "How's he doing now? Where is he?"

"He's in the intensive care room, in the back-whoa, slow down Piper, I don't think you should go in there yet."

Piper had started walking over to the room, but Will had grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Teddy's doing...not too good." he said, "The wound closed as soon as Teddy changed form. It closed too soon. We couldn't put any nectar or ambrosia on the wound, much less counter the effects of the Celestial Bronze. He's infected badly….there's terrible internal bleeding, and we can't heal it now that the wound's closed."

Piper felt like a clawed hand was squeezing her heart, and pulling it into her stomach. The lump in her throat was back, and choking her harder than ever.

"So...what are you saying?" she asked, every ounce of her body dreading the answer.

Will took a deep breath. "Piper...Teddy's dying."

_-o0o-_

Harry watched eagerly as Hermione ladled out the fully brewed Tracking potion into four small, egg-sized cups, handing one to him, one to Ginny, Ron, and finally, pouring a cup for herself. The potion was clearer than water, and seemed to sparkle ever so slightly.

"Alright, now we add the hairs." said Hermione, taking a few of Teddy's hairs from her pocket. Harry did the same, holding the hairs carefully between his fingers, and dropping them into the potion. They hit the surface of the brew with a sharp hiss. The potion turned a bright turquoise color, and began to steam, growing warm in the cup.

"Looks like Polyjuice Potion." Remarked Ron.

"On three." Said Harry. "One…"

They raised their cups to their lips,

"Two…"

Harry braced himself to drink the potion. Nearly all potions he'd ever tried tasted terrible.

"Three!"

He tipped the potion into his mouth, swallowing it in two gulps. It tasted like the smell of rubber, and left a strong aftertaste in his mouth. For a moment, the four teens stood there, waiting for something to happen, when suddenly, without warning, Harry's eyes closed on their own. A searing pain shot through Harry's head as the image of a scenery was burned into the back of his eyelids. It was what looked like an ancient Greek village, at the bottom of a hill. An archway by the front read _Camp Half Blood._ His eyes flew open, and he clutched his head as a splitting headache gripped him. When the pain finally receded, an address had been carved into his memory.

He straightened up, panting. Next to him, Ginny still had her hands over her forehead. On instinct, Harry put his arms around her.

"I'm okay." she said, straightening up too. She leaned over, kissed him, then looked over at Hermione and Ron, who had both recovered. After a brief silence-

"I think it worked." said Ron, smiling. Harry felt himself beginning to grin.

"Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road Long Island, New York 11954." recited Hermione. Harry nodded. The same address had been burned into his mind.

"New York...that's in _America_." said Ginny with awe. "How in the world did he get to _America?"_

"He must've said the place wrong when using floo powder." said Harry, remembering _his _first time using the the floo network. He had ended up in Knockturn Alley, luckily, not too far away from where he was supposed to be. Teddy, on the other hand, hadn't been that lucky.

"Thank _goodness, _at least he's not on the streets." said Hermione. "I had been so worried."

"That Camp Half Blood place seems a bit dodgy to me." said Ron. "It looked more Greek than American."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" said Ginny suddenly, "Let's bring Teddy home!"

"Right." said Harry, grinning as Hermione did an excited little jump. Harry wasn't too far from jumping himself. He hadn't felt this happy in weeks. "Everyone grab on to me." he said. Ginny took his hand, while Ron linked on to her, and Hermione held Ron's hand.

_We're coming for you Teddy._ Thought Harry. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the image of the Camp, ready to apparate, and with a loud, whip-like crack, the four of them were gone.

**Were you expecting Teddy to get better? Yes.**

**Were you expecting to have a happy reunion? Yes.**

**Did I break everyone's hearts and leave them hanging with a cliffy? Yes.**

**Am I evil? Yes.**

**I regret nothing. **

**:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Guess what, I'm not dead!**

**I don't think I need to remind you that I've been, well...dead for almost a year, but I'm alive again! And this time, I'm ****_not _****going abandon my stories again. You can check out my profile to get the full story, but basically, I'm giving myself a new rule. Every month, I ****_have _****to update at ****_least one of my stories_****, until eventually, they are all finished. So I wonn't keep you any longer, let the story (after a ****_long_**** time) commence!**

_**Chapter Five**_

The Camp Bonfire burned low tonight, a depressing, grayish purple color, perfectly reflecting the moods of all the campers seated around it. The Apollo campers had attempted to lighten the mood with the nightly sing along, but the attempt was rather pathetic. There was no spirit to it, and so instead of a lively, fun bonfire, the campers sat in silence around the hearth, nothing but an occasional whisper the break the silence.

Lou-Ellen, daughter of Hecate, took a half-hearted bite of her s'more. It tasted like cardboard, and did nothing to ease the tight knot in her stomach. She hadn't expected the bonfire to be lively tonight, not after the events of last night, and especially not with Teddy's fate looming heavily in the air.

_'We've faced suffering before. This isn't the first time a demigod is dying,'_ thought Lou, _'But it's just so different somehow...Teddy's so young...And he wasn't hurt by a monster, he was hurt by __**us**__.'_

Lou felt a small pinch of guilt in her stomach. She had been one of the counselors to vote 'No' on whether or not the toddler could stay at camp. Looking back on the meeting, she must have looked utterly heartless. But what she said was true, there _was _magic surrounding Teddy. A strange, menacing type of magic.

Lou could remember it vividly. She had forced her way through the crowds gathered around what had looked like a huge, monster-wolf. But Lou could feel the magic in him. Pure, nauseatingly strong waves of magic had been radiating off the wolf, thwarting all her senses, utterly clouding her brain. Children of Hecate were especially sensitive when it came to feeling magic, and just the sheer and raw power of magic in the wolf had been enough to nearly make her faint from dizziness.

That didn't stop her from feeling bad though. Teddy had seemed so eager to come visit her at the Hecate cabin. He came nearly five times every day. Whenever Lou had asked why, the answer had always been the same.

"_I'm a wizard!"_ Teddy would say brightly, like it was obvious. The answer always made Lou laugh, but now, she began to ponder that constant reply. Could Teddy be some bizarre type of Legacy of Hecate that could turn into an animal? She had never heard of such a thing, but in the world of Greek Gods, anything seemed possible.

'_Whatever Teddy is, it doesn't matter now.' _She thought bleakly, '_He's dying now.'_

Yet another wave of guilt came over her as she thought of Piper. If Lou felt this bad about Teddy, she could only imagine what Piper was going through.

Piper was practically Teddy's mother. Since the event, she hadn't been out of the infirmary in nearly two days, ever since she got the news that Teddy was dying. Not to sleep, not to train, not even to eat. If you looked into the hospital area, you would see the hunched over figure of the Daughter of Aphrodite. Her eyes would have heavy dark bags under them from sleepless nights, and her mouth would constantly be moving, whispering inaudibly to Teddy.

Jason was constantly at her side, his own eyes filled with worry as he coaxed meals into his girlfriend. Of all the tragedy Lou had seen, this had to be among the saddest.

It was no wonder the campers weren't in the mood for singing. She couldn't expect any lively nights for a while, now that Teddy was going to die. She couldn't expect that Piper would ever quite heal from the emotional damage of Teddy dying.

And she certainly didn't expect that with a sudden, deafening crack that made everyone jump, four crazy, stick-waving teens would suddenly materialize in the center of the campfire circle.

_-o0o-_

"C'mon Piper, another bite." said Jason, holding a bowl of mashed potatoes out to his girlfriend . "You can't go on like this, you _need _to eat."

Piper took the bowl into her hands and mechanically spooned a tiny bite of potatoes into her mouth, still unable to concentrate. In front of her, Teddy was stretched out on a hospital bed, his eyes peacefully closed. It could have looked like he was sleeping had it not been for the deathly pale complexion of his skin, the ragged intake and outtake of breath, and the sporadically beeping heart rate monitor next to his bed.

"Piper, _please_." through the attempted mask of calm Jason was putting on, Piper could hear desperation in his voice. He gently turned her head to face him. "Please, Piper, eat some more. I can't…" He paused, his voice cracking "I can't lose you too, Piper. I _can't."_

Looking into his pleading blue eyes, Piper felt a stab of regret in her chest. Throughout all the craziness that had come into her life since she found Teddy, Jason had always been there, supporting her throughout it all. She couldn't just leave him like this. He deserved better.

"Sorry." she said sincerely, this time taking a bigger spoon of potatoes, and shoveling them into her mouth. Immense relief flooded Jason's eyes as she swallowed the food.

"Thank gods." he said quietly, putting his arm around her. Piper felt a mix or happiness and gratefulness invade the sadness in her heart as she leaned against him.

"You really deserve better than me, you know that?" she said, speaking earnestly. "Here I am, being a giant emotional wreck and you just stay by my side. You really should get someone bet-"

"Shut up." said Jason suddenly, cutting her off mid-sentence. Piper looked at him with surprise; she swore she could hear a hint of anger in his voice. "And get that stupid thought _out _of your head_." _he looked her in the eyes before continuing, "_No one_ could could ever replace you, Piper, okay? _No one_. Even if every girl in the world came to me, _none _of them could - not any single person on the surface of the earth could _ever-_"

Piper smiled, and suddenly, unable to stop herself, she leaned over and kissed him. For just a moment, nothing else existed except her lips on his. She moved her hands to clutch the sides of his face, and felt him running his fingers through her hair. The churning, painfully grief-stricken emotions inside her were suddenly muted as Jason held her in his arms.

Suddenly, everything felt okay again. Not good, but okay. It was pure bliss.

That moment lasted for an eternity, or maybe just a few minutes before Piper had to draw back for air. She smiled at Jason, not saying anything, but there was no need for words. She felt like she really had someone to support her again. Of course, Jason has been there all along. How could she have forgotten that?

Then, she heard a weak, childish giggle. She whirled around to see Teddy's big, brown eyes open, staring at her and Jason from the hospital bed, a small smile playing on his chapped lips.

"Pi'er kissin' Jason. " he said, a mix of mischief and glee in his voice, like he had seen something he wasn't supposed to. "Pi'er _looooves _Jason." He opened his mouth to laugh, but suddenly grimaced in pain, his tiny hands moving to clutch his chest.

"_Teddy!"_ said Piper, a mix of relief and shock in her voice.

"You're awake!" said Jason, "How you feeling, buddy?"

Teddy stopped to consider the question. "Hurtin' all over." he finally said, his voice coming out faint again, letting his body go limp on the bed, "I wanna' sleep."

Piper noticed that his breathing was still ragged, and with a glance at the heart-rate monitor, she could see it was taking his a huge amount of energy just for Teddy to keep his eyes open.

"You should go back to sleep Teddy." she said in a soothing voice. "Everything'll be alright." She felt a small twinge of guilt, knowing full well she was lying through her teeth. But there was no point causing Teddy grief by telling him was...she didn't even want to _think_ the word.

Teddy's eyes immediately closed, and he turned on his side, readjusting himself into a more comfortable position. Piper stared at him lovingly.

"You kept whispering to him when he was sleeping." said Jason, "I couldn't hear...what were you saying?"

Piper sighed. "It was really silly…"

"But?" prompted Jason. Piper smiled a bit.

"I kept whispering to him in charmspeak. I was telling him to be okay." A heavy feeling gripped her chest again. "I somehow thought that maybe if I told him enough...it would somehow happen…" She trailed off. "Silly."

Jason kissed her on the cheek, a sad look in his eyes. He didn't lie to her, saying that Teddy would be alright, and she silently thanked him for that. She didn't want to hear any lies, no matter how comforting they might be.

Teddy's eyes cracked open, apparently he _wasn't _asleep. In a groggy voice he murmured, "Pi'er?"

"Yes Teddy?" said Piper comfortingly.

"When can I go home?" he said. The longing in voice was obvious.

"You _are_ home, Teddy." said Piper, confused. "You're here, at camp."

Teddy shook his small head. "I wanna' go _home._ I want Harry and Ginny." His voice broke as he continued. "I miss them..._so, so,_ much."

His breathing slowed as sleep pulled at him. "And mommy...and daddy...miss them too…"

Piper felt herself looking towards the sky. Teddy wanted his _mother. _Aphrodite. The least Piper could do was show Teddy his mother before...before it was too late.

"Hey mom, if you wanna come down here to see your injured son, anytime now would be fine." she said out loud, a bit annoyance in her voice, knowing Aphrodite could hear her.

Jason looked around expectantly, as if hoping Aphrodite would just appear, but after a minute, he sighed, shaking his head. Aphrodite wasn't coming. Piper sighed too, and turned back to Teddy to see his eyes closed again. This time, Piper could tell he was really asleep. She looked at Jason sadly.

"Well, it was worth a shot." he said. Piper nodded when suddenly, a voice behind her said,

"It most certainly was."

Piper jumped half a foot the air,whirling around to see who had spoken. Out of nowhere, a tall, blonde man had appeared. Apart from the fact that he had appeared out of nowhere, he seemed ordinary enough, but Piper could feel power radiating out of him, more intense than any mortal or demigod could have. He also had a large bow slung over his shoulder.

"Lord Apollo?" said Jason, confusion in his voice.

"The one and only." Said Apollo, a cocky grin playing on his face. "And I am here to..._Grace _you with my presence." His eyes flitted to Jason and he let out a peal of laughter.

Jason looked unsure of how to react before saying "That's...a _terrible_ pun."

"Hey! Don't insult my godly puns, son of Jupiter! Especially when you should be begging for my help right now."

That snapped Piper to her senses. "You're - you're here to help Teddy!" She exclaimed. I huge, happy sensation began to fill her chest, like a balloon slowly being inflated. If Apollo _himself _healed Teddy…

"I wouldn't put it quite like _that_." Said the god, flicking a bit of dust off his bow. "I'm only here because Artemis and Hecate made me come. Kept lecturing me about how this was a "_chance to make peace between wizards and gods again and restore the balance_" yada yada yada - personally, I don't see why she's so worked up - the Demigod-Wizard war was years ago…"

Piper stared at him, and after a long pause,

"Wait..._what?"_

"Demigod - Wizard _war?!_"

"What do you-"

"Nope, nope, nope, nope - don't start interrogating _me_ about it, I'm not in the mood to give you a three-hour history lesson about a war that was never supposed to happen." Interrupted Apollo. "Ask Chiron or something...I'm just here to give you the mission and the deadline."

"Mission - deadline - _what?" _Stuttered Piper, feeling utterly lost. "Aren't you going to heal Teddy?"

"Yeah, this demigod is _dying."_ Said Jason, gesturing to the sleeping boy.

"So you _still_ think he's a demigod!" Said Apollo, amusement in his voice.

That caught Piper off guard. "Well...yeah." Sure said slowly, "What else would he be?"

"A wizard of course." Said Apollo in an offhand voice.

Piper and Jason stared blankly at the god. A _wizard?_ What was he talking about? Did he mean a sorcerer like Circe? But Teddy was nothing _remotely_ like Circe.

Oblivious to the two bewildered demigods, Apollo continued,"You'll find out all about witches and wizards soon enough, as there are four on their way here right now, so let's get down to business." He paused, Piper expected for dramatic effect, then continued, "Ever since the war, Hecate's sacred torch has still been missing. Of course, she's gotten plenty of replacements, but none of them are quite as powerful as the ancient relic itself."

"What _war?!" _Piper and Jason shouted in unison, but the sun god took no heed.

"Now that wizards and demigods are again going to meet, she sees this as an opportunity to get her torch back. With demigods and wizards working together, she figures that this could finally ease the tension we've had since the war."

"For the last time, _what war are you talking about?!"_ Jason shouted at Apollo. It was probably very unwise to shout at a god, but at this point, Piper didn't even try to stop him.

Apollo acted like he wasn't there. "So that's your mission. Team up with the witches and wizards coming, and get back Miss Magicky's torch and make peace between demigods and wizards, and in return…" The god smiled, and turned to look at Teddy. "I'll heal the little metamorphmagus." Then his face solemned. "As for the deadline, well, at this rate, Teddy'll be dead in seven days exactly."

Piper felt her eyes widen with horror as Apollo continued "So the deadline is pretty self-explanatory. Seven days to find the torch, seven days to save Teddy."

"Wait, _what?_" Said Jason, "You can't just tell us we have to - we have no idea what your even - "

But Apollo had already disappeared.

Piper and Jason stared at each other, both trying to comprehend what they had just heard. Finally, Piper let out a long, drawn out breath.

"Well, you heard him." she said. "We've got a mission...whatever it is."

_-o0o-_

As the suffocating feeling of apparating ended abruptly, Harry stumbled a bit. Ginny, who was still holding his hand, pulled back up quickly, and he took a moment to take in his their surroundings.

They had appeared outside, right in front of a roaring bonfire that, for some reason, was coloured purple. In a huge circle around the hearth was at least a hundred teens, probably gathered for a campfire. Some of them were holding s'mores, and one blonde boy had a guitar. They were _all_ staring a Ron, Hermione, Ginny and him.

For a second, there was dead silence as the two groups slowly took each other in, then the scene exploded into chaos. Campers yelped or screamed in alarm, and Harry's hand instinctively went to his pocket as he drew his wand. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny did the same, and they moved to stand back to back as campers began to surround them, looks ranging from fear to curiosity to hostility.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw something he couldn't believe he had failed to notice when they first appeared. The campers had _weapons._ Not ordinary muggle guns, and not wands or enchanted items as wizards used, but Ancient Greek weapons, like swords, daggers, spears, and bows and arrows. It was bizarre; who in this century carried _swords _to defend themselves?

Ginny nudged him, saying in a disbelieving voice. "Blimey...look at that girl." She nodded her head slightly in the direction of a buff girl carrying a stick. Dangling off one end of the stick was a huge, bronze spikeball held on by a chain.

Behind him, Harry could hear Hermione frantically rattling off the names of all the weapons she could identify. Knowing their names probably made her feel calmer. It just made Harry's stomach lurch with nervousness.

When Ron seemed to finally noticed the bizarre weapons the kids were holding, he exclaimed. "_Bloody hell, you've got a __**spikeball**__." _His voice was so loud it carried over the din of the strange teens. Several kids stopped and snickered when he spoke.

'_Probably because of the accent.'_ Though Harry, remembering that they were now in America.

Harry noticed a dark haired girl pushing her way to the front. Like all the other kids, she was wearing an orange shirt, which Harry could now read to say '_Camp Half Blood'. _Written on the shirt in black market the name _Lou Ellen._

"Calm down! We don't even know them!" She was shouting to anyone who would listen.

Harry slowly lowered his wand, and motioned for the others to do the same. They weren't here to fight, they were here to find Teddy and leave. Simple as that.

'_Then again, when have things ever been simple for us.' _Harry thought. It was almost funny, how everywhere he went, trouble followed. Almost.

The campers had seemed to calm down a bit, and noise no longer filled the campfire, but they were still getting suspicious looks from the kids. A few campers were eyeing their wands, as if they somehow knew there was more to them than what met the eye.

'_Who are these people?' _Harry wondered, a mix of confusion and curiosity inside him. '_ordinary muggles would have called the police by now. Heck, ordinary muggles don't carry around weapons from the classical era.'_

The dark haired girl who had been yelling for campers to put down their weapons stood opposite then, eyeing them suspiciously.

"We don't want a fight." said Hermione immediately, addressing the girl-Lou Ellen he supposed her name was.

"Good." said Lou, smirking a bit, "'Cause you wouldn't stand a chance."

Harry begged to differ, one _accio_ spell could rid all the campers of their weapons. Ginny actually opened her mouth to object, but Hermione shot them both a glare, and Harry decided it was would probably wiser to keep his mouth shut.

"How did you just appear like that? That wasn't shadow travel." Lou demanded.

Hermione hesitated. They couldn't just say they apparated.

"That's not important right now." said Harry quickly. "We're here to find someone. Do you know a little boy named Teddy Lupin? He's a toddler, two years so."

For a second, the hard expression on the girl's face softened, and her eyes flicked towards a nearby building. Then, she turned her gaze back to them.

"Maybe I know him. Why you want to know?"

"We're here to take him home." said Harry, his voice growing stronger. "I'm his godfather."

Lou's eyes widened. "You're his _what?!"_ she said with complete a moment, she just started them. Then, her eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not some monsters here to kill him?"

Harry blinked in confusion, and Ginny muttered "We're not _that_ ugly,are we?"

"Ummm...if we were monsters, wouldn't we have, I dunno', claws or fangs or something?" said Ron, sounding just as confused as Harry felt.

"Monsters can use the Mist to disguise themselves." said Lou, glaring at them. Harry just shook his head in confusion. He had no idea what the mist was, and even Erogon, the smartest monster he knew, couldn't disguise himself to look like a human. He shuddered a bit, thinking of the giant, six foot spider her had met when he was twelve.

"Look, I don't know what your talking about, frankly, I don't see how you could possibly think we're monsters, but you must believe me when we say we're _not_." said Hermione.

Lou stared at them critically for a moment. "Fine." she said finally. "But that doesn't mean I trust you...what does Teddy look like?"

Ron snorted. "That's not easy to answer, mate." he said.

Lou nodded,as if expecting that response. "And why not?" she said.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." said Ron.

Lou cocked an eyebrow. "You'd be surprised how much I'd believe." she said.

Harry huffed in frustration, getting sick of the interrogation.

"Look," said Harry, the frustration clear in his voice. "We've all been searching for Teddy non-stop for weeks, and we've been worried sick about him, there are people back home frantic to know if he's dead or alive, and we did _not_ just apparate all the way to America to be stopped by a bunch of _lunatics_ with out-of-date weapons who think we're monsters! We know Teddy's here, now _where. Is. My. GODSON?!"_

Lou's eyes were wide as his voice rose to a yell. After a long silence she said finally in a quiet voice, "I believe you, but...if you really are his godfather then...I should probably warn you before you see him…"

Harry felt worry suddenly grow in his mind. "Warn us about what?"

"I-I'll go get Piper." She said, and with that, she ran off, disappearing into a nearby building and leaving Harry to wonder what in the world had just happened.

_***Siiigh***_**I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for ****_so _****long. You really have no idea. I planned to have more happen in here, but it was getting long, so it'll all happen next chapter. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it, and I'll see you next month!**

**Stay awesome**

**~Silver**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Previously_**_**, on Silver Wing's Updates: **_**"I'm giving myself a new rule. Every month, I ****_have _****to update at ****_least one of my stories_****, until eventually, they are all finished."**

**Welp...there goes that rule...I guess this means I am a horrible person...**

**So yeah, about that rule...I broke it. Majorly. Like, the amount of broken-ness it is right now is just sad. **

**Good news though, I've finished the net chapter, and this time, I'll do my best to get the next one out in one month before the end of November. But, seeing my track record with deadlines, I have a feeling it'll be a bit late**

**To all those readers who have beared with me, and stuck with my story through the long update breaks, I want to thank you for you're patience, and to all who reviewed, just reading those reviews is the only thing that keeps me writing - the really fill my chest with warm, fuzzy, happy feelings (and no, I'm not making that up, it's true). **

**Okay, I won't keep babbling like this for much longer. On to the chapter! Hope you enjoy :)**

_**Chapter Six**_

Piper panted a bit as she ran, Jason right at her heels. The two sprinted forwards, their eyes fixed on the Big House - they were going to talk to Chiron. Piper's eyes were still adjusting to being outside again - she hadn't left the infirmary for almost two days. From behind her, she could hear Jason muttering angrily under his breath.

"First memory wiped...then fighting _giants_...then Teddy becomes a freakin' _werewolf_...now _another stinkin' quest._"

As he spoke, Piper felt a bit of frustration bubbling up in her own chest. Jason had a point, they had just finished a world-saving quest, and less than six months later, they were being sent off to be heroes again.

"Why couldn't he just heal Teddy. Is that too much to ask?" she muttered under her breath.

The Big House was close now. The were passing by the volleyball court when Piper suddenly heard someone calling her name.

"Piper! You gotta' come over here - there are these people-!"

She turned to see Lou-Ellen running towards them, her eyes wide. She stopped in front of Piper, and doubled over for a minute, panting. It was clear she had been sprinting at top-speed.

"Lou, there's no time." said Piper before Lou could say anything. "Teddy - something happened - Apollo came and -well it's a long story, but we have to talk to Chiron."

"Well whatever happened, I'm pretty sure it can wait." interrupted Lou. She was talking extremely fast. "A group of people just appeared, like, _appeared _out of nowhere, right in the middle of the campfire - they're looking for Teddy!"

That made Piper stop. She turned to Lou, "Why? Are they monsters or something?"

Lou shook her head, "They said - well -" She stuttered for a second, then cleared her throat. "One them, this guy, he said he was...he said he was Teddy's godfather."

Piper stared for a second. Then, she exchanged a glance with Jason, and in a silent agreement, they both changed course, and began to run towards the campfire.

"Are you sure they're not lying?" Prompted Piper, turning to Lou, who was running next to her.

"And you're sure it's not a trap?" Added Jason.

"I'm sure." Said Lou breathlessly, "The guy who said he was the godfather - scrawny guy, wears glasses - he was definitely telling the truth. No one could look that angry unless they were sincere..."

Piper said nothing, but her mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Apollo, witches, wizards, werewolf-teddy, and now a godfather...she still hadn't managed to let all the information sink in.

"Trust me, you'll see he's telling the truth once you see him." said Lou. She was silent for a second, then "It's not just that...I'm a child of Hecate - I can feel whenever someone has magic, and these guys, they're just..._oozing._ They're _oozing _with magic. They have as much as children of Hecate - heck,they might have _more._ And they're not the only ones I can feel magic from. Remember when Teddy went all werewolf on us?"

"What do you mean, do I _remember?" _said Piper.

"Oh, right, stupid question - but when he was a wolf, I could feel magic on him too. Magic oozing off of him - _just like these people."_

Piper was silent for a second, then glanced at Jason. "Apollo said that Teddy was a wizard...and that there were four "so called" wizards on their way to camp right now…"

Jason slowly said, "You don't think that Teddy…" Piper nodded, and Jason groaned. "Come _on._ First werewolves, then wizards...I already hate where this quest is going...and the quest hasn't even _started_!"

Lou was looking at the two of them, apparently bewildered at why they were suddenly talking about witches and wizards, but she didn't ask any questions. Instead, she slowed, and said, "We're here."

The three of them had arrived at the edge of the campfire. The campers had formed a ring around a group of four teenagers who were standing in front of the fire. From what Piper could see through the almost solid wall of campers, the strangers didn't look all that threatening. They looked her age, maybe a little older, and all four of them were unarmed...unless you counted the sticks they were all holding.

Taking a deep breath, Piper pushed her way towards the quartet of possible-wizards. As she and Jason passed, the campers around them quieted, and made a path. By the time she was face to face with the strangers, she could feel every pair of eyes in the bonfire area watching her avidly. After an awkward silence, Piper cleared her throat.

"Erm...hi." she said lamely, internally flinching at how silly she sounded.

The boy nearest to her, with messy jet-black hair and round glasses spoke first.

"Where's Teddy?" he said plainly_. _The first thing Piper noticed was his accent. Clear cut British.

"Teddy's, um...you're the one who said you're his godfather?"

The boy nodded.

"Follow me." said Piper, trying not to let her nerves show, and heading once again to the infirmary. The strangers glanced among each other for a second, then followed her. Piper noticed they had pocketed their sticks.

"I should probably warn you...Teddy's not in the best condition right now." Said Piper slowly, glancing back at the quartet.

"It was because of full moon night, wasn't it?" One of them said. It was a girl with bushy, brown hair and sharp, intelligent brown eyes. For some reason, she reminded Piper of Annabeth. Something in the way her eyes seemed to calculating everything they looked at.

"How do you know about - oh never mind." said Jason.

"What happened on full moon night?" Asked the brown-haired girl anxiously. "Did he hurt anybody? Without his potion he must have been a full on werewolf...the transformation is painful enough without being in a new place, and - "

"So that's it then?" Said Piper suddenly, turning to face the strangers. "Teddy's a...a werewolf? Like from fiction novels?"

The four looked at each other, and the boy with red hair said "You're really _not _wizards then…"

Before Piper could respond, Jason stopped in front of the infirmary, and pulling the doors open, said "We're here. Teddy's in there."

Without another word, the four practically ran into the building, Teddy's godfather in the lead. Piper could see his green eyes looking around the room rapidly. In an instant, the four were gathered around Teddy's bed, where the little boy was still sleeping peacefully. She rushed over to join them, followed closely by Jason.

All four of the strangers were looking at Teddy with a mixture of shock and horror on their faces, as if unable to comprehend the sight of the unconscious two year old lying on the bed, a heart rate monitor next to him, beeping steadily. The redheaded girl's hands were shaking, her face white, making freckles on her face stand out vividly. The brown haired hurl had her head over her mouth, her eyes wide. The two boys were both staring transfixed with horror. Teddy's godfather looked like he wanted to hug Teddy, and at the same time, was too afraid to touch him

Then without warning, the godfather-boy snapped back to life.

"H-Hermione." He said, his voice tight, and urgent. "Hermione, do you know any healing spells...a potion or - I only know _episky, _but it doesn't look like he has any broken bones -"

The brown haired girl whipped out the stick from her pocket, looking suddenly ready for action. "I know a few." she said. "_Reparifors, _or maybe _Vulnera Sanentur - _I need to know what happened to him- "

"What about a potion?" began the red-head girl. "We don't have any ingredients here, but if we apparated to Diagon Alley-"

"It - It can't be healed." Piper burst out "The magic from the celestial bronze - no one can heal that."

All four of the teens turned in sync to look to look at Piper and Jason, their eyes glaring accusingly at them.

"I think it's time you told us what happened." said the girl with red hair, her voice deadly quiet. "And why exactly you've _kidnapped _our Teddy."

"We didn't kidnapp-" began Jason, but Piper shook her head, sighing. She knew this time would have to had come sooner or later - better to explain the whole truth now.

She motioned for them to come into the side room, not wanting to wake Teddy up. Then, she took a deep breath, and began "It started when we went to London..."

Piper explained how they had found Teddy, Jason taking over when her voice got hoarse. They explained how they had thought he was an orphan, and how they decided to take him to camp - where they lived. But neither of them mentioned anything about the greek world, or how they thought Teddy was a son of Aphrodite. Something told Piper that now was not the time to explain.

"And Teddy's been living here ever since." finished Jason a few minutes later. The quartet hadn't said said anything throughout the whole story, but as soon as he finished, the guy with black hair burst out.

"Well that's just fine and lovely, but how did he end up like...like _that?!"_ He pointed at Teddy. "What did you _do_ to him?!"

"It was a misunderstanding!" said Piper quickly, "On full moon night, Teddy transformed. Everyone was scared about how a monster got past the border - no one knew it was Teddy, and - well - one of the campers - with her sword - "

"_So you just _stabbed _Teddy?" _shouted the black-haired boy, his face going red with fury.

"It wasn't like that - they didn't know - "

"Yeah, you didn't know, so decided to just try and _murder him_ just like that - " The boy with red hair interrupted, standing up angrily to join the black-haired guy, his face changing color to match his hair.

"No one was trying to-"

"You people are _psychotic!" _This time, the reheaded girl stood up, standing next to the two boys. "I don't know who you are, carrying around swords and spears, but you all _disgust me!"_

"_Don't talk to her that way!"_ Jason suddenly yelled, finally losing his cool and leaping to his feet. "Piper's the only reason Teddy's even alive right now-"

"Well he wouldn't even be _injured _you'd just left him alone back in London! We would've found him - "

"So you're blaming us for not leaving an _orphan on the street?!_ Fat chance you would've found him. Piper's been like a mother to him ever since she found him-"

"Well in case you haven't noticed, Teddy already _has _a family, you-"

"Yeah, great family, who lets him get lost on the street-"

"Says the one who literally _stabbed in the bloody back-."_

"_STOP IT! _JUST STOP IT RIGHT NOW! ALL OF YOU!" The brown haired girl suddenly screamed over the four shouting teens, tears shining in her eyes. "Listen to yourselves! Teddy is - is _dying _and you're all acting like - like immature children!"

"Hermione, how can you take _their _side - " said the black-haired boy disbelievingly.

"I'm not taking _anyone's _side!" Hermione shrieked. "I'm just trying to make you all stop your _petty fighting _and actually _fix _something!"

And with that, she stormed out the room, slamming the doors behind her, tears flowing down her face. Piper stared after her, then moved her eyes to the other three, half expecting the room to break out in shouting again. Instead, the boy with red hair hurried after Hermione, and after a withering glare, the red haired girl and black haired boy followed.

For a few seconds, Piper and Jason sat alone in silence. Then, Jason slumped back in his chair sighing.

"That brown haired girl - Hermione, I think - she's right." said Piper. "We can't keep playing the blame game. That's not gonna' get us anywhere."

Jason nodded, then looked at Piper wearily. "They started talking about healing spells, and potions, and Hermione pulled out one of those sticks. You don't think that was a..._wand?"_

Piper didn't reply. _A magic wand._ This had gone beyond all greek-mythology levels weird. "We've got to talk to them again - tell them about Apollo." said Piper, standing up. Together, she and Jason walked out of the room, and again approached the four.

They were huddled around Teddy's bed again. Tears were still flowing silently down Hermione's face. Her head rested on the red-head boy's shoulder, who had his arms around her as he stared at Teddy. The red-haired girl was next to the top of the bed, gently stroking Teddy's hair (which was now a blank white). She wasn't crying, she didn't look like the weepy type, but she was staring at Teddy with a blank, hollow expression, like she still couldn't believe her eyes.

Teddy's godfather was in the middle of them all. Piper could see him clutching Teddy's tiny hand in his own, his eyes fixed on the boys sleeping face. There was only one, clear expression on his face. Guilt.

Piper couldn't help but feel like she was intruding as the walked up to the four, silently mourning strangers. "We never got your names." She said quietly, tension in her voice. "I'm Piper, and this is Jason."

"Ron." muttered the redhead boy distractedly, not turning his head from Teddy.

The brown haired girl sniffed, then said "Hermione."

"Ginny." said the redhead girl, her eyes flitting upwards towards Piper for millisecond.

Piper's eyes widened. _Ginny?_ As in _the _Ginny? The imaginary friend Teddy was always talking about?

"Harry." Said Teddy's godfather, turning to look at Piper.

_Harry and Ginny. _Teddy _wasn't _making them up! They were real people - and they were right here! Piper glanced at Jason, and she could see the same revelation dawning upon his face.

"There's still a way to save him." said Jason. All four pairs of eyes shot towards him. "He has seven days to live, and Apollo can heal him if we-" Jason stopped himself, remembering that the newcomers didn't know about the gods yet. "Well...this is gonna' take a lot of explaining, but-"

"We need to talk to Chiron first, we can explain on the way." Interjected Piper, standing up. She motioned to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to follow her as she headed out of the infirmary. Harry leapt to his feet in an instant, his eyes brimming with determination his three friends doing the exact same.

As they left the infirmary, Piper took a deep breath."So...how much do you know about Greek mythology?"

**I bet you expected more from the chapter where Harry and Teddy would finally reunite...hehehe, I'm evil :)**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it, and now, I _actually _have an announcement:**

**I'm looking for a beta for this story. For those of you know don't know, a beta is like a partner for the author - they proofread the chapters, correcting grammar mistakes and spelling errors and such, some even give suggestions on how the chapter could be improved. For my beta, however, I was hoping they could do one more thing: bug me. If the deadline for the next chapter passes, and it still isn't out, remind me to update, and if I go silent, send a little reminder saying that the readers are waiting - I have a feeling having someone actually tell me to update would definitely increase the update speed.**

**If you're interested, please PM me, and we can discuss.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and remember, reviews are fuel for updates.**

**Stay awesome!**

**~Silver**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! A new chapter is out, and it didn't take me a million years to update! I'm a legend!**

**Hopefully next chapter will also be updated in a timely fashion...probably. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

_**Chapter Seven**_

By the time they had reached the Big House (which was what Jason had called it, though it didn't look particularly big), Harry's head felt like it was going to explode with an information overload. From the iron-grip Ginny had on his hand, Harry could tell she was shocked too.

The Greek gods were real. _Real._ As in alive, and controlling the world he lived in. And Teddy had been found by a bunch of half-human-half-gods. Harry's mind had never been this boggled since he found out he was a wizard.

For a bunch of beings that were half-deity, the demigods were nothing like Harry would have expected. They didn't glow with godlike auras or anything, or walk around yelling "_Bow before me, mortals!". _They were just..._normal_. You could walk by any of them on the street and think they were just a normal teenagers living their lives. Then again, the same could be true about witches or wizards - but it was still almost too much to take in.

"The Big House is where Chiron, our activities director lives." Piper was saying. "He's actually a…" Piper trailed off,and a mischievous smile curved on her face. "Well, you'll see when you meet him."

They walked through the front door and into the foyer. Piper was about to lead them through a door that had the word '_Office' _written in it when they heard the front door open behind them. Harry whirled around, and his eyes widened with surprise.

Framed in the doorway, and far too tall to fit into the door without ducking, was a _centaur. _His face was looked kind, but was lined and weary looking. From below his torso, he wasn't a man, but a pure white horse. He was bigger than the centaurs Harry had seen in the Forbidden Forest, and much more...human like. Harry remembered Firenze and Bane, two of the centaurs he had met when he was younger. They hadn't worn shirts, like this centaur did, and their hair was long and unkempt. It was hard to imagine any of them out of the forest, but this centaur - it was only too easy for Harry to imagine him sitting dignifiedly in an office reading a book or going through papers.

For a second, Harry just stared at him until Ron finally broke the silence.

"Your activities director is...a _centaur." _He said, turning to stare at Piper and Jason. "_Weird_."

Piper was looking at them expectantly "Most newcomers freak out when they see Chiron." she said, sounding a bit disappointed, like she was looking forward to seeing their reactions.

"We've seen centaurs before...never out of the forest though." Said Ginny, still staring.

"You've _seen-_?"

"Chiron, we were looking for you." Said Jason suddenly, "You need to know what's just happened-"

"Well, after finally getting a camp full of half-bloods yelling about people who appeared out thin air back into their respective cabins, I can only assume something quite extraordinary has happened." said Chiron. He turned his gaze towards Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, his eyes scrutinizing them. Harry was reminded painfully of the way Dumbledore's eyed used to look at him in almost the same way. "And my guess is that whatever's happened has something to do with _them_."

"Wait, you said you're _Chiron?" _Hermione suddenly said, her eyes wide, "If all this mythology is real then...then you're _the_ _Chiron?! _The centaur who trained all those heroes?"

Chiron chuckled, "Yes, my girl, I am '_the Chiron'._" He said, his eyes sparkling. "I didn't expect you to realize so soon."

A look of awe passed over Hermione's face. "You - you trained Odysseus, and Perseus, and Achilles, and _Hercules_…" she stuttered, her eyes wide. "I've read _stories_ about you!"

"Seriously, _where_ does she find time to read all of this stuff…" said Ron quietly, looking at Hermione with a mixture of admiration and bewilderment. Harry shrugged, equally mystified..

"For Merlin's sake Ron, I was _named _after a Greek hero." said Hermione pointedly. "The first Hermione was Hermione, daughter of Helen of Troy - I've loved learning about Greek mythology ever since I found out about my namesake."

"She knows more Greek mythology than _I_ do." muttered Piper.

"I know,right!" said Ron. "See Hermione, you read too much!" he said, pointing as Piper.

"Just because you've never opened a book, Ronald, doesn't mean none of us can." she said, raising an eyebrow.

"You're mental, Hermione." Ron sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head, but he was smiling.

"The first Hermione...I remember meeting her...right after the Trojan war was over." Said Chiron slowly. He smiled at Hermione. "Wear her name proudly - she did great things."

Hermione turned bright red - awed at the fact that she had just been complimented by an ancient greek legend. Piper cleared her throat.

"Anyway, Chiron, you need to hear what happened." said Jason, "Apollo appeared, he gave us a quest - he said if we did it, he could heal Teddy."

The atmosphere in the room solemned instantly.

Sit down." said Chiron seriously, "And tell me everything from the very beginning."

Harry waited for Piper to again fill Chiron in when he realized the centaur hadn't been talking to her and Jason - he was looking at Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and him, waiting for their story. Harry's stomach suddenly lurched - Chiron might be a centaur, but did that mean he knew about the magical world? Could they tell him? He nervously exchanged a glance with the others.

"This is illegal-" Hermione murmured quietly. "The Statute of Secrecy forbids telling muggles - if the Ministry found out-"

"Well, they're not technically them muggles." Said Harry, casting a sideways look at the two demigods. "They're definitely not 'non-magical'."

"We've broken the law before, we can do it again." Ginny said, with a hard, blazing look on her face. "The Ministry can go -"

"And Teddy's life is on the line." Added Ron, not letting Ginny finish. "It's not really a question, is it?"

Harry nodded in agreement, and couldn't help but grinning a bit as he turned to Piper and Jason, eager to see the expressions on their faces when he told them the truth. It was bound to be priceless

"I guess now it's our turn to blow your minds." he said. He took a deep breath, then said it all at once. "Magic is real. Witches and wizards are real. There's millions of them, all over the world. I'm a wizard, so's Ron; and Hermione and Ginny are witches."

For a second, three three just stared at Harry (who couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed - they didn't look as shocked add he thought they thought be). Then, Piper let out a long, drawn out sigh.

"And here I was hoping I was totally wrong about magic." she said in a resigned sort of voice.

"Before you found him, Teddy was back in England with us." Said Harry quickly. "We left him alone for just a second, and next thing we knew, he had used floo powder - er, it's a type of magical fire transportation - to magic himself to god knows where-"

"Gods." corrected Piper, grinning.

"Wait, fire-transport?" Repeated Jason suddenly.

"Er - yeah…"

"When we found Teddy, he was covered in what looked like ash." said Jason quickly. "That must have been because-"

"You must have found him right after he appeared. Not more than a few hours could have passed if he was still dirty." Ginny finished excitedly.

"After he disappeared, we began to search for him..._all_ of us. Everyone we knew. _Everywhere." _said Harry, remembering the long, sleepless nights, flying through frigid night air on his broomstick, calling out Teddy's name. "We...we searched for _months_. Even after we gave up searching manually, we never stopped looking for a spell to find him."

"Finally, we found a potion which would tell us where Teddy was." Hermione jumped in. "I brewed it, and it told us that he was here. After that, we just apparated here-"

"Apparition is like teleporting." Supplied Harry.

"And now we're here." finished Ron. "Getting a lesson on Greek mythology."

Chiron stared at the four of them, his eyes scrutinizing them. His brown eyes moved from person to person. As they fell on Harry, he realized with a start that the centaur was looking at his scar.

"I don't believe I caught your names." he said finally, his eyes suddenly not moving from the lightning bolt on Harry's head. "Though I know Hermione of course." he added quickly, smiling kindly at Hermione.

"This is Ginny and Ron." said Harry, pointing to the two redheads. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

As he said his last name, Harry swore he saw a flash of recognition come across Chiron's face. Did Chiron know who he was? But the expression was gone so fast, Harry figured he imagined it.

"Well then." said Chiron folding his hands and leaning back, looking around at the six teenagers. "Demigods and wizards, all in the same place. I never thought I would see this happen again so soon."

"Chiron, that's what he had to ask about." said Piper. "What happened between wizards and demigods?"

"When Apollo gave us the quest, he kept going on about war, and something to do with Hecate's sacred torch." Jason's brow knit with anger. "He refused to give us any details."

"Wait, there was a war?" asked Hermione, "None of the wars I've ever read about involved demigods…"

Chiron sighed heavily. "None of your history books will document _this_ war." he said "The gods erased it from all living memory." He grimaced a bit, reminiscing in some memory. "It was the bloodiest war in all of history...the only way to prevent more bloodshed was to wipe everyone...make them all forget...it was the only way..."

"Chiron, what happened?" asked Piper, snapping the centaur out if his memories. "What war was this?"

"It wasn't all that long ago." Chiron began. "No, not very long at all...perhaps only fifteen years have passed since the war ended. There are still people around who fought in war - not that they remember the fighting, of course. No one remembers this war."

"It began very innocently, really. The gods had just moved to America. Now you see, the grand majority of Wizards and Witches lived back in Europe, so everything there was much more organized, and much more well hidden. The Wizarding World was a far better kept secret in Europe than it was in America. Things were a lot...looser in America. The Wizard government was shakier, much sloppier when it came to hiding magic from the world."

"There are very few things that can manage to hide from the gods. But somehow, amazingly, the Wizarding World in Europe managed to escape the gods' notice. They had no idea it existed. Of course, as soon as they came to America, where the hiding is much less thurow, the secret was out. The gods found out about the Wizards and Witches of America, and if course, of the rest of the world."

"Finding out that they had been living in Europe for _centuries _with magic folk hiding right under their noses more than just surprised the gods. It threatened them. A magical community of that size simply _couldn't_ have hidden away from the gods without the help of an Olympian. And I'm sure you know by now, gods don't like other gods hiding things from them."

"It was Hecate, wasn't it?" Piper cut in.

"Hecate?" repeated Ginny.

"The goddess of Magic." supplied Piper, "It was her though, wasn't it? She must have known about the wizarding world, and hidden it from the other gods - heck, she's the goddess of magic, she probably _created_ the wizarding world in the first place."

Chiron smiled warily. "That was the most disturbing part of all, my dear." he said, "It _wasn't_ Hecate. She, along with the rest of the Olympians, had no idea the Wizarding World existed. She was just as shocked as the rest. No one knew where the witches and wizards had come from, and if Hecate of all people was clueless about them, that meant only one thing. Trouble."

"Why though?" Ron interrupted, "Why were they so threatened by us? Okay, sure, we were good at hiding, and they didn't notice us, but it's not like we were hurting anyone."

"You don't understand, my boy." said Chiron, "If none of the gods created the wizarding world and was hiding it, that meant that it was a _Titan _who was hiding it."

"Titans equal bad." added Piper. "They basically just want to take over the world."

"The magic folk are very powerful." continued Chiron. "And that could mean that whatever Titan created the magical world was biding his time, raising a magical army to take over Olympus, destroy the gods, and throw the world into chaos."

There was a brief silence as these words sunk in.

"Oh." said Ron lamely. "Bad."

"Bad indeed." said Chiron. "The gods began to hold councils, deciding what to do. Some of the gods just wanted to kill the people of the wizarding world all together, and get them out of the way, others wanted to take them prisoner on Olympus. But in the end, the magic folk of the wizarding world were innocent. No matter what the Titan who made them had in mind, they themselves were blameless, and there was no way to justify killing them all. But the gods couldn't just leave them be, now that they knew about them-"

"Why not?" muttered Harry, "They could have minded their own business."

Chiron nodded. "They _should _have minded their own business. It would have stopped the war before it ever started. But alas, the gods are never quite satisfied leaving things be."

"They began to send demigods on quests into the wizarding world - mostly children of Hecate, they seemed to blend in the best. Their quest was always the same - pose as a witch or wizard, gather every scrap of information you can get, and bring it back to the gods. They wanted to know everything there was to know about wizards and witches, they wanted to be prepared, so that if the people of the wizarding world attacked, their demigods would be able to fight. That was when everything began to go wrong."

"For the first few quests, things were mainly uneventful. The demigod would go, spend some time in the wizarding world, and come back. But then, they began to attract monsters into the Wizarding World."

"Attract monsters?" Repeated Ginny.

"Monsters can smell demigods." Explained Jason. "They can track us down using our scent, so usually, wherever we go, monsters are attracted to us."

"They like eating us." added Piper casually. She grinned a bit at the expression on Ginny's face.

"But if that's the case, how come there aren't any monsters here?" asked Hermione, "This place is full of you...demigods." She looked like she was still getting used to saying the word.

"The borders of this camp are protected by magic." said Piper, "Monsters can't get in - that's why so many demigods come here, it's like a safe haven."

Chiron cleared his throat, and the attention went back to him. "They attracted monsters into the wizarding world, and naturally, I'm sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued. With just the first few monsters, almost fifty witches and wizards had been killed. In the end, the demigods always managed to kill the monsters they tracked in, but the more demigods came into the wizarding world, the more monsters did too."

"Now you see, at that time, the Mist didn't work on witches and wizards. The witches and wizards all saw the monsters for what they were, _and _they saw the demigods who fought and killed them."

"At first, people didn't think much of it - the Wizarding World is a chaotic place, things that are considered supremely unusual in the mortal world are commonplace in the Magical World. Monsters are well known in the Magical World, and at first, people just thought that magical-beast-trainers had gotten careless, letting their pets out too often. They of course thought seeing people with swords was strange, many people wondered why they didn't use wands, but the demigods posed as squibs, and pretended to simply be skilled fighters."

"Wait, squids?" Repeated Piper, "How the Hades does pretending to be a squid help? What, did they dress up as-"

She was cut off as Ginny let out a peal of laughter. "_S-squibs…_" She said between chuckles. "Not squids. Squibs are people with magical blood, but who can't do magic."

"And they _bought _that?" said Jason, "They just accepted that a random teenager with a sword who killed a monster was an ordinary squib?"

"Like Chiron said, the wizarding world is a crazy place." said Harry, thinking back to when he had first come into the Wizarding World. "After living in it for a while, you sort of learn to just go with it...singing hats...biting books...trees that want to kill you...running into brick walls in order to get onto trains...If I saw a guy holding a sword in Diagon Alley, I probably wouldn't bat an eye."

"Running into brick walls in order to get to trains?" Repeated Piper, looking at Harry as if he might need help, but Chiron kept talking.

"At first, no one _did _bat an eye. But by the fourth attack, it was too much to ignore. The MCOTUSA began the take notice - "

"The what?" said Harry, Ron, Piper, and Jason all at once.

"The Magical Congress of the United States of America." said Hermione, looking at Ron and Harry pointedly, "_Honestly _boys. I can understand Harry not knowing this, but you've lived in the magical world you _whole life, _Ron."

"How come Harry gets a free pass?" Ron groaned. "I never had a reason to read about the magical government in the States."

"There's a magical government?" Asked Jason.

Chiron cleared his throat again, and then continued. "They had the demigods who defeated the monsters carefully watched and followed. And of course, one thing lead another, and eventually, they found out the secret - the Greek gods are alive. But unfortunately, they took the demigods' appearances as an attack. They thought that they were bringing monsters into the Magical World on _purpose._ And it's really no wonder they thought that...many had been killed or injured in the attacks."

"And that's when the war started." Guessed Harry grimly.

Chiron let out a long sigh, the lines of his face seeming to stand out more as he stared into space. "Indeed...that's when the endless suffering started. One thing lead to another, and next thing we knew, Greeks and Romans alike were gathering on the battlefield, and on the other side, witches and wizards from all around the world...the fighting was ferocious...the bloodshed seemed endless...the dead were infinite."

"No prizes to guessing who won the war." said Jason darkly.

"The demigods." said Piper.

"The wizards." Said Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny at the exact same time as Piper.

The two groups stared at each other.

"The demigods couldn't win." said Ron incredulously. "No offence, but if you think you could take down the _wizarding world _with swords and arrows, think again.

"One '_Accio weapons' _spell, and you'd be defenseless." Added Ginny "Besides, wizards don't need weapons to kill, just the killing curse."

"We don't just have _weapons_." countered Piper. "We have powers - because of our parents. I have this thing called charmspeak, I could make you do whatever I want-"

"We can do the same thing with the Imperious curse-"

"And Jason can fly and summon lighting-"

"We have broomsticks - wait, you can _fly?!"_

"One I'd or friends can summon the freaking _undead. _Another one if our friends can control water-"

"We can bring Inferi to life - that's like raising the dead, as for water, we have the ××× spell."

"We also have the _gods_ on our side."

"From what you told us, the gods don't usually help their Children very much."

"Even if they don't, we're still incredible fighters - demigods are born able to fight and endure more than normal people-"

"Yeah, but we-"

"You know, there's one way to solve this debate." Hermione cut in loudly. She turned to the centaur. "Who won, Chiron? What happened?

Chiron smiled darkly at them. "That's just it. No one won. The two parties were at a complete impasse. On the one hand, there were the demigods. Powerful, half-deity beings with incredibly strong powers. One the other hand, witches and wizards. They had an incredibly wide range vpowers, but their powers weren't as intense as the demigods' powers. They would have lost had it not been for one thing - there was more of them. _Far _more of them. Witches and wizards are all over the world, they're almost as common as mortals. Demigods are rare, and usually only in the place where the gods happen to be living at the time. Thanks to their great numbers, the wizards were equally matched with the demigods. And so no one ever won. The war just went on, and on and on...for _years."_

Chiron shook his head, his face heavy. "The amount of death was overwhelming. Endless days of war between two evenly matched parties, where no one could win or lose. Finally, the gods knew that unless the war stopped, both sides would obliterate each other until there was no one left. And that's when the memory wipes started."

"It was incredible. Wiping the memory of two two entire different _worlds_. I witnessed it happen...entire armies, murderously fighting with their lives...they forgot what they were fighting for. They forgot who the other side was...their memories of suffering and war were wiped away, and they went home, happy and content, forgetting that there was ever a war, forgetting that the other side ever existed...they just forgot. The mist was manipulated to hide any traces that any war had ever happened, and since then, it was like it never happened at all...The witches and wizards went back to their lives, the demigods going back to theirs. They were to be kept apart...any contact between magic folk and demigods was severed, careful steps were taken to make sure they never met again...and if they ever did, they were separated, and their memories wiped. Wizards and demigods were never to see each other again."

The six teenagers stared in shocked silence as Chiron finished his story. Harry glanced at Piper and Jason, realizing that witches and wizards had been at war with their kind. And yet, here they were, two worlds colliding again.

The same thoughts seemed to be crossing the other's minds, for they were now staring at each other tentatively. Then, Piper turned back to Chiron.

"How come you still remember, Chiron?" She asked, "If they erased everyone's memories-"

"I had a duty to do." Said Chiron. "I had to make sure no wizards stumbled across Camp Half-Blood, or came on purpose for that matter." He eyed Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. "I'm making an exception here, due to our, ah, _unusual_ circumstances."

"But...I don't understand, if we were meant to be kept apart, how did Piper and Jason find Teddy?" asked Ginny, "He's a wizard too. Why didn't the gods just keep them from meeting him altogether? And once he got to camp, why didn't _you _send him back?"

"I'm afraid I didn't realize what he was." He said. "Signs of magic don't usually begin showing until the witch or wizards is older. As for why the gods never stopped you from meeting, that, I cannot answer. Perhaps Teddy was young enough that the gods took no notice of him...though that's not at all likely. Once you took him to camp, they had to notice…" He trailed off, then shook his head. "I'm afraid I know no more than you."

"And what does this have to do with Hecate's sacred torch?" Asked Jason. "When Apollo appeared in the infirmary, he said that her torch had been stolen, and we had to get it back...was it stolen by wizards, or…?"

"It can't have been!" Said Hermione, "Everyone forgot about the war, they can't have _stolen_ anything." She glanced at Chiron, "Can they?"

"_Ah."_ said Chiron, "The torch..._that's_ your quest. I can't say you have an easy task ahead of you." he said, looking grimly at the six teenagers. "Have you ever wondered why Metemorphagi are so rare?" He asked, his question directed to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Meta-what now?" asked Piper.

"Metamorphagi." Said Ginny. "It's the plural of metamorphmagus, a wizards that can change their appearance at will. Teddy is a metamorphmagus, so was his mother."

"There's no reason for them being rare." Said Ron. "They just...are. The same way people with two eye colors are rare, I guess."

Chiron shook his head. "I'm afraid the real explanation is a bit more complicated than that." He said. "Before the war, metamorphagi were actually quite common. Perhaps one in every ten wizards. They were used as spies during the war. Once the memory wipes started, though…they got away."

"Got away?" repeated Harry.

"Not all of them," said Chiron quickly, "Some had their memories erased just like the rest, but most of them...metamorphagi, uber skilled in the art of disguises, they got away. They were forced into hiding, it way to only way for them to keep their memories. That's why the metamorphagi are so rare in wizarding communities, most metamorphmagi are hiding. But they didn't go quietly. Before they disappeared, they stole something from Olympus, the gods didn't realize they had gotten away at all until they found it was missing."

"Hecate's torch?" guessed Jason. Chiron nodded.

"Every god has a sacred symbol - for Poseidon, it's his Trident. Hades, the Helm of Darkness. Zeus's Lightning Bolt, and so on. A great portion of a god's power is tied to their symbol. The gods depend on their symbols to different degrees - the major gods are still very strong even when their symbols have been stolen - Zeus's Bolt was stolen some years ago, he was still very powerful. But Hecate is a minor goddess, when her symbol was stolen, she was gravely weakened, at least by godly standards."

"So why didn't she just take it back?" asked Ron, "She's still a goddess, right? Why could she just, you know, _poof, _make it appear?"

"Oh she tried, but by that time, the metamorphagi had hidden away again." said Chiron, "Without her full godly power, she couldn't find them. Whatever mysterious Titan that had concealed the wizarding community in Europe had again stepped in, and hidden the metaphorphagi from the gods. No one knows where they are, or what they're planning, but after such a war, they aren't exactly going to be friendly with the gods, and return the torch without a fight."

"Why can't the other gods get it back _for _her?" Asked Hermione, "They all have their full power - they could rally together, break whatever concealing spell that Titan has, and get back her torch."

Jason laughed dryly. "You obviously don't know the gods." he said. "The don't just 'rally together'. Most of the gods are selfish, or too busy competing against each other to help each other out."

"Even if they could come together, they couldn't get the torch." Added Chiron, "Gods are forbidden to take each other's sacred items - even if it's to return that item to its rightful owner. For example a few years ago, Zeus's lightning bolt was stolen, but the other gods couldn't return it, we had to send one of our demigods, Percy Jackson, to retrieve it."

"Then why didn't Hecate just do that?" Asked Ginny, "Just send a demigod to-"

"The demigods memories were erased." Hermione said to Ginny quickly, "She couldn't risk sending a demigod without having demigods and wizards meet again, could she?"

Chiron nodded, and Piper spoke up. "And now that we've all met again, and have a common goal, she's using this as an opportunity to get her torch back." she sighed. "Why do we always have to do their dirty work?"

"I'm afraid this isn't going to be an easy quest." said Chiron, looking at Piper and Jason sadly. "Simply finding where the metamorphagi are hiding will be a challenge for you two, and then-"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'you two'?" said Harry suddenly, looking from Chiron to the two demigods. "We're coming too!"

Chiron's brow furrowed, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you four go - demigod quests are dangerous, obscure-"

"You think we haven't risked our lives before?" Said Ginny, a hard,determined look on her face. "We just finished fighting a war, Harry _died-"_

"Sort of died." muttered Harry.

"We've been risking our lives since we were _eleven_." added Ron.

"Harry in particular - he's been through hell and back, defeating Voldemort." said Hermione, glancing at Harry with a note of pride in her voice.

"You died?" asked Piper, looking at Harry quizzically.

"Defeating Voldy-who?" asked Jason.

"Whatever life threatening challenges this '_quest'_ has, know it's nothing new for us." said Harry, brushing off Jason and Piper's questions. "And if you think we're going to sit on the sidelines while you go to save Teddy, well...well, you're wrong."

Chiron surveyed the four witches and wizards, seeing their eyes blazing with determination, and defiance.

"I've been alive for a very long time, training heroes." he said slowly, looking straight into Harry's bottle-green eyes. "I know a hero when I see one, I know how to recognize someone who's been through a war." he sighed slowly, "I didn't want to put you in the danger of a demigod quest, but...if you wish to go, I will not stop you. I can see what you will be able to handle it...probably."

"We're _going."_ said Harry, his jaw set as the other nodded in agreement. He turned to Piper. "How long did you say we have to find Teddy?"

"Seven days, starting tomorrow." she said.

"Then we have to start _now!" _He said, "We're wasting time, standing around here-" Chiron cut him off.

"You still need to get a prophecy." he said, "Our Oracle, Miss Dare, is currently in New Rome. Unfortunately, she can no longer give us Delphi's prophecies, but if she and Ella have made any progress with the syllabline books, they may be able to give you your prophecy anyway."

"A prophecy?" repeated Harry, "For this?"

"We'll explain later." said Piper quickly.

"It's already late, Miss Dare and Ella are most likely asleep, and starting your quest now will serve no purpose but making you sleep deprived in the morning." said Chiron. Harry started to object, but Chiron held up his hand."You will sleep in the Big House tonight, and start in the morning - normally, visitors sleep in cabin eleven, but at this point, I don't think drawing attention to yourselves from the campers is a good idea."

"I think he's right Harry, he we have to wait until morning." said Ginny quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Harry gritted his teeth, and agreed grudgingly - she was right.

"Follow me, I'll show you you will sleep." said Chiron, trotting off. Harry followed.

**Hope you enjoyed, and please review! Reviews are fuel for updates.**

**Stay Awesome,**

**~Silver**


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